A BABY born 13 weeks early and weighing just over 2lbs has prompted a fundraising night to celebrate her progress and raise money for Gloucestershire Royal Hospital’s special care baby unit.

Little Evelyn King has inspired the charity race night which will take place at The Fountain pub in Stroud on Saturday, July 19, just prior to her first birthday.

Parents Charlotte and Jon wanted to do something for the unit to show their appreciation for everything that was done to help Evelyn when she was born.

“She is doing really well now and coming up to 11 months,” said Charlotte, 32, a former SNJ advertising representative.

“She is always going to have a three-month delay with things like talking and walking although we do have regular doctor and hospital appointments. Evelyn’s first birthday is the end of July so we thought it would be nice to take our donation to the baby unit around the same time.”

Evelyn was born on July 29 last year and since then has come a long way in developing and growing.

When she was born she was taken straight to an incubator.

Talking about Evelyn’s complicated birth, Charlotte said: “She was placed on a ventilator for the first 24 hours and then put onto a breathing apparatus. The special care unit was amazing.

“There were a couple of occasions where Evelyn became unwell and the nurses would always call us if it was over night or the consultant would come and speak to us and start the right treatment straight away.”

Evelyn stayed in the unit for 12 weeks before returning home on October 17 weighing 7lb.

So far the couple have managed to raise £400 for the unit but hope to raise a further £600 at the charity race night.