CELEBRITIES, surgeons, mums and children joined together to raise cash – and say thanks – for a hospital baby unit.

The fundraisers completed a sponsored stroll around Oxford’s University Parks in aid of the John Radcliffe Hospital’s Silver Star Unit – which many participants said had saved their lives, The event featured bouncy castles and slides for children, a falconry display and a picnic after the walk.

The Silver Star Unit provides care for mothers going through high-risk pregnancies, and is marking its 40th year Yesterday’s walk, organised by the Silver Star Society, aimed to raise money to help the unit buy a £100,000 ultrasound machine.

The state-of-the-art piece of equipment would allow surgeons to see a baby’s blood flow within the womb and identify any potential risk to the child.

Leading the walk was writer, director and comedian Armando Iannucci, creator of acclaimed political sitcom The Thick of It, and EastEnders star Jo Joyner.

Mr Ianucci, whose children were born at the unit, said: “We wanted to use the 40th anniversary to do a fresh campaign for fundraising.

“The unit always needs more equipment, and specialist care is always expensive.”

He added: “People who go through the unit are terribly loyal to it and keep coming back and giving their time and money to keep it going.

“They want to say thank you because, if it hadn’t been for the unit, they may not have had their baby.”

Mr Ianucci is patron of the society and helped fight to save the centre earlier this year, when Government cuts threatened its future.

He said: “It was a long, deep conversation and, thankfully, the future of the unit is certain so we don’t need to go through that uncertainty every year.”

Ms Joyner, from Banbury, plays EastEnders character Tanya Branning. She said: “I’m here, like everyone, to support the Silver Star Unit.

“I luckily had a healthy and happy pregnancy, but some women aren’t so lucky – and that’s where Silver Star comes in.

“This is the only way to thank the hospital and all the staff, nurses and consultants who, as we know, work very hard for very little.”

Rebecca Beswick, who lives near Woodstock, said her life had been saved by the unit.

While giving birth to her son, Monty, her placenta detached too early, cutting off oxygen to her baby and causing her to bleed.

The unit’s staff had about three minutes to save both their lives.

Mrs Beswick said: “It was about as catastrophic as it gets. But, to be perfectly honest, it was worse for my husband than it was for me.

“He was there next to me, and then all of a sudden he was standing in a pool of blood.”

But she said Monty, who is almost a year old, was healthy.

The 37-year-old added: “We very literally owe our lives to the people who work in the unit. I’m so incredibly grateful and I wanted to help out. That’s why I’m here.”

  • To donate to the society,visit silverstaroxford.org