I HAVE for the first time become aware of just what Oliver's Army has achieved.

Although over the last two years my commitment to childrens services remaining at Trafford General has never wavered, never more than now have I realised just what a difference these services make.

One of my closet friends has just had a baby girl, after a NORMAL pregnancy and her baby was taken to special care where she is poorly.

Sharing her and her husband's distress has been very poignant too for me, especially as the incubator she is in is the very same one, in the same place as Oliver.

It was only during a telephone conversation with her husband, who told me what a good job Oliver's Army had done and how lucky they were, that the unit was still there that it dawned on me what a difference we all really did make.

Not just for my friend but for every parent who goes through this distressing period.

The staff on this unit so rightly called special are second to none and how wrong it would have been to close it.

So thank you to everyone who has supported or continues to support Oliver's Army Childrens fund. And may we all never forget how vital these services are for us all.

Angela Gray, Oliver's Army.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.