A GREAT Dunmow art gallery owner has raised more than £1,000 for the Neonatal Unit at Broomfield Hospital where her premature grandson was cared for.

Louise Poulton was inspired to help the unit after her daughter Michaela Parker's son McKenzie was born eight weeks early, weighing 4lb 4oz and quickly dropping to 2lb 6oz.

Since his birth, Louise has offered display space in her gallery – Gallery on the Park in White Street – in return for a donation to the Neonatal Unit. Artists pay £10 a week and are required to give 15 per cent of their proceeds to the unit.

Michaela praised staff on the unit, saying they ended up "like another family".

She said: “They were there constantly checking every five minutes – if I needed anything, they were there. They were the same towards everybody in the family. They were so flexible about visiting times because I had two other children at home and couldn’t drive after my emergency C-section.

“McKenzie is thriving and he’s slowly catching up. It was 24/7 care and they ended up like another family.”

Louise, Michaela and McKenzie, who is now two years old, were joined by Michaela's sister Hannah Poulton and two other children, Madeline, 4, and Max, 3, to present a cheque for £250 to the Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust’s charity team on August 1. This took the total donated by the family to £1,125.