A woman who started a prematurity awareness day after her twin grandchildren were born 15 weeks early is set to host the event for the fifth time.
Nicola Orrell, 44, started the World Prematurity Day charity ball following the early birth of "lovely" twins Ava and Archie.
Her charity ball raises funds for causes like Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, which provides free "home-away-from-home" accommodation and support for families with children in hospital.
It will take place at 6.30pm on Saturday, November 9 at Last Drop Village Hotel and Spa in Bromley Cross.
Ms Orrell, from Bury, who is managing director at Salford's Edison Media, said: "In July 2019, my lovely twin grandchildren, Ava and Archie, entered the world three months early, facing numerous challenges from their very first moments.
"Having personally experienced this as a grandparent, I recognise the critical need for essential lifesaving equipment, family accommodation, and support for families undergoing similar life-changing experiences."
Alex Grice, the mother of Ava and Archie, gave birth to the babies at Royal Bolton Hospital and the pair arrived weighing a respective 1lb 9oz and 1lb 12oz.
The babies' grandmother spent many hours in the neonatal intensive care unit, bearing witness not only to her own family's experiences but also to those of others.
She said: "While Dec and Alex’s focus was obviously the twins, I saw the bigger picture.
"Not all the sick babies on the unit made it.
"I became aware, for example, of the lack of cooling cots to provide grieving parents with the invaluable gift of time with their baby after loss."
Explaining how the first charity ball in 2019 came about, Ms Orrell went on: "Alex had been chatting with the nurses about throwing a party for World Prematurity Day in November.
"She’d put my name forward to help, as I’m ‘good at organising’!
"I decided that if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it properly and raise a good amount of money.
"I treated it like a business and managed to get 74 people to the first event, raising just over £5,000 to update the parent accommodation at Bolton NICU."
The next World Prematurity Day Charity Ball was in 2021, following a hiatus due to the pandemic.
The second ball raised more than £11,000, which was split between the NICU and Ronald McDonald House Charities UK.
In 2022, Bliss was added as one of the beneficiary charities and the event raised nearly £20,000, which was split three ways.
And in 2023, SANDS, Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, and Bolton NICU were the supported charities, with a total of £22,525 raised.
The same three charities will be supported again this year, with the addition of The Royal Oldham NHS Care Organisation.
The fundraising target is £28,000.
More information is available at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ladies-gentleman-welcome-to-our-world-prematurity-charity-ball-tickets-853790529457
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