Neonatal nurses faced a not-so-merry Christmas when the company they booked their end-of-year party through went bust, leaving them £1,600 out of pocket.

Thankfully though a chance encounter between one of the nurses and an altruistic mum, who gave birth to her three children at the Watford General Hospital unit, led to a phenomenal fundraising effort.

The 40-strong group made up mostly of nurses had each paid £40 for their Christmas party at The Noke hotel in St Albans when they were informed the party-planning company had liquidated, taking their hard-earned pot of cash with it.

“We were genuinely devastated as we were looking forward to spending time together outside of work. We don’t get the opportunity to do this often because of our shifts,” said neonatal matron Simmi Naidu.

A few days later Clare Dawson, one of the aggrieved nurses, was chatting to a shop assistant in designer clothing store Chloe James Lifestyle on High Street, St Albans, and casually mentioned their collective misfortune.

That assistant was Lisa Dance, who fondly remembered the “amazing” care her newborn son received while in the hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) with blood sugar problems.

She decided to start an online fundraising campaign to help the team get the Christmas party she felt they thoroughly deserved, but never expected to raise as much as she did.  

“She was just another lovely lady but we got talking about Christmas and said she’d had a bit of bad luck,” said Mrs Dance.

“I thought it was awful that such a hard working team of people should have such bad luck at Christmas.

“I had a chat with my husband and we got a collection box together but I didn’t think in a million years that we would get the response we did.

“I can’t believe it has taken off - I am flabbergasted. It goes to show people are so warm-hearted.”

In just two days the campaign had recuperated the lost funds. Not only that, but donations pledged online were often accompanied by messages of thanks and goodwill from mums who had also given birth at the hospital.

On Thursday, Mrs Dance met with neonatal nurses at the hospital to hand over the Christmassy cheque.

Miss Naidu said: “We were deeply moved by the generosity, kindness and enthusiasm from all the families who have responded to this campaign. We were really touched and overwhelmed by the positive feedback we received.

“We are eternally grateful and we want to thank every single person who contributed in one way or another.”

In the coming weeks Mrs Dance will help the nurses decorate the ward, and will also take her family to visit the nurses working on Christmas Eve.