Young footballers back baby project (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Westwood Juniors support Born in Bradford
12:50pm Saturday 1st May 2010 in News
Westwood Juniors under-eights with their Born in Bradford kit
A health project is swapping the research lab for the soccer pitch to raise awareness about its ground-breaking work.
Youngsters at Westwood Juniors under-eights are showing their support for the Born in Bradford (BiB) initiative by playing their matches with the Born in Bradford logo and website – borninbrad ford.nhs.uk – emblazoned across their strip.
The sponsorship deal with a difference was hatched by David Francis, whose son Daniel plays for the team and whose wife, Dagmar Waiblinger, supports the work of BiB as the lead research midwife based at Bradford Royal Infirmary.
When David agreed to sponsor the team, he thought it would be a good idea to advertise the work of BiB – much to the surprise of Dagmar, who only found out when the children first ran out onto the pitch.
BiB programme manager Dr Pauline Raynor said: “The work of BiB reaches into the heart of the local community and it is great to receive this support from the team.
“Children have the biggest role to play in our work and, thanks to David, it is a boost for the project to see these youngsters show such an interest.”
And the idea has done the team no harm – racking up 13 wins in their 14 matches this season to date.
Born in Bradford is a joint research project spearheaded by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Bradford and Airedale, and the University of Bradford. To date, more than 10,000 babies are part of the project.
