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Marchers getting ready to state case again

22/ 3/2006

ORGANISERS of a second march to fight for babies' and children's services at Fairfield Hospital say they are expecting it to be even bigger than the first.

The march will leave Chesham Road, Bury at noon on Saturday, April 1, and wind through Bury Town centre for a rally at Kay Gardens.

The Babies First Group, set up to fight for the special care baby unit when plans were announced last year to close it, now has a bigger battle on its hands with plans which could also see maternity and children's services switched to hospitals much further away.

When the first march was held along the same route in September 2004, nearly 5,000 people took part.

Police said it was the largest protest march they had ever had to control in Bury.

Sharron Entwistle is a trustee of Fairfield Baby Lifeline Society, which supports the work of the special care unit and is the main group behind the Babies First Campaign.

She said: "This is something which is going to affect people in Heywood very much and we know from the hundreds of people who took part in the march last time that the threat to services so close to them is something they are very concerned about.

"We are expecting a lot of Heywood people in the march and we have had banners made for each of the towns which has people taking part so that everyone can see how widespread the opposition is to these moves."

Anyone planning to join the march is asked to be at Chesham Field, Chesham Road - which is off Walmersley Road, Bury - by 11.20am.