A grateful parent is hoping to raise £15,000 to say thank you to a neonatal unit which gave life-saving care to his baby girl.

Warwick Sleigh, from Mitcham, will be setting off on a 60-mile bicycle ride to raise the cash for the St George’s Hospital-based unit’s dedicated charity, First Touch, which helps fund its equipment and staff initiatives.

The 29-year-old father-of-two said: “In October 2009 my daughter Scarlett was born eight weeks premature, she weighed only 2lb 1oz and was born with many complications.

“She was cared for by the excellent staff at the St George’s neonatal unit in Tooting.

“As a thanks for all the help and support of the staff at the hospital we have put together a team of cyclists to complete a 60-mile bicycle ride from St George’s Hospital to Eastbourne District General Hospital to raise funds.”

The team - made up of Mr Sleigh’s work colleagues and friends, including ex-Saracen's rugby star Muna Ebongalame - has already raised more than £2,000 under the sponsorship of Big Yellow Self Storage, which provided the bespoke cycling kits which all the cyclists will wear.

For more information about the May 7 cycle visit cycle2savelives.com or to learn more about the charity visit www.first-touch.org.uk.

To sponsor Mr Sleigh visit www.justgiving.com/Warwick-Sleigh.