Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is celebrating after spending more than a million pounds last year on projects to provide the best care and treatment for patients.
Throughout 2018, Bradford Hospitals’ Charity – the official NHS charity partner of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – spent £1.2 million on a number of high profile projects. From hospital equipment to items which improve quality of life, toys for our younger patients to events which support patients and their families – the charity funded extras which are over and above what the NHS provides, but have a big impact on patients.
Staff have also been supported via training and counselling to ensure they can provide the very best care for their patients.
See below for a full roundup of 2018.
Hayley Collis, Head of Fundraising for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, said: “Last year was a landmark year for our charity, as we merged with the former Bradford Hospitals’ Children’s Charity – creating just one NHS hospital charity in Bradford.
“Our supporters truly put the fun into fundraising during 2018, taking part in the Bradford Dragon Boat Festival, marathons, swimathons and our first superhero abseil. But we still rely so much on donations and legacies to enable us to make a real difference to the experience of patients and their families.
“Thank you to every single one of you for your support during 2018. We will continue to strive for the very best for Bradford in 2019. We hope we can count on your support during what promises to be an exciting year. Let’s do something brilliant for Bradford!”
In 2019, Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is excited to announce that it will be launching two big fundraising appeals.
- The ‘Rays a Smile’ appeal hopes to raise around £250,000 to transform both Radiology departments at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital and make them more child friendly. The charity will fund new equipment to distract and help ease the nerves of young patients undergoing MRI scans, as well as funding a new snuggle room, which will help soothe babies to sleep before their imaging and avoid the need for a general anaesthetic.
- The BIG Neonatal Appeal will raise money to improve the family facilities in Bradford’s award-winning Neonatal Unit, with the aim to build additional bedrooms for parents to stay near their babies, and refurbish and create areas for families, providing a true home-from-home.
If you would like to support Bradford Hospitals’ Charity – via a donation, fundraising or volunteering – please contact Hayley Collis or Elaine Drake on 01274 274809 or email charity@bthft.nhs.uk.
Bradford Hospitals’ Charity in 2018
January 2018
- The Alhambra Bradford’s star-studded pantomime cast visited our Children and Young People’s Unit, including Bradford panto legend Billy Pearce.
February 2018
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity funded ten patient bedside chairs for the Intensive Care unit, at a cost of £16,000, to help with rehabilitation.
March 2018
- Bradford hospitals’ Charity rebranded, incorporating the former Bradford Hospitals’ Children’s Charity and embracing purple as our brand colour! Our new website – www.bradfordhospitalscharity.org.uk – was also launched. Visit for news and how to get involved.
- Our charity funded £4,000 of sensory items for children on ward two, making their time in hospital a little bit easier.
April 2018:
- Former staff member Daniel Wadsworth and his dad Stephen both ran the Bradford 10K, raising £520.
- Employee Scott Anderson and his team raised £1,361 during Haemophilia Day. Thanks to match-funding, their total came to £2,722!
- Physiotherapist Alison Pyke took part in the national Swimathon for our charity, to fund new toys and equipment for the Child Development Centre. She raised £506.
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity launched its NHS Big 7Tea campaign, to celebrate 70 years of our amazing NHS and raise money. A number of schools and local businesses took part by holding tea parties and raising money, including Asda! The Iqra Academy raised £670 alone by dressing in blue!
- Three of our supporters ran the London Marathon to raise money for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, raising £1,476. Thank you to Helen Waddington, Atiq Zaman and Gareth Holmes.
- A superhero day held at Odeon Cinema in Bradford raised a fantastic £1,378! Thank you Saahib Quereshi.
- We funded two recliner chairs for new mums and visitors to our maternity ward, costing £2,000.
May 2018
- Our super sonographer from Radiology, Rachel Benson, took part in the Liverpool Rock n Roll half marathon, raising around £100 for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity. The money will go towards making the radiology department more child-friendly.
- We funded 12 coin-operated wheelchairs for patients visiting BRI, costing £13,000. You might see them carrying our flags around the hospital.
June 2018
- Six teams from Bradford Teaching Hospitals took part in the Bradford Dragon Boat Festival, raising a fantastic £11,373! Contact us if your business would like to represent us during this year’s festival!
July 2018
- We all celebrated NHS70 with big 7 tea parties! Everyone raised more than £6,000 for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity and we all celebrated our wonderful health service.
- Boxing legend Frank Bruno visited our young patients at BRI to hand out books and chat to the children, visitors and staff. The visit was organised by Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, with the support of Bradford Literary Festival.
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity provided £3,700 funding for a Carendo hygiene chair for the stroke and neurology ward. The ergonomically designed chair improves quality of life by making assisted showering and other hygiene routines safer, more comfortable and dignified for the patient.
- We funded £2,000 worth of toys and play equipment for the ENT outpatients department at BRI, as well as £2,000 for toys for the Children and Young People’s Unit.
- £1,110 was provided by the charity to fund a transport harness for children coming into hospital in ambulances.
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity supported the first of two Shared Memories services to be held at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) in 2018, to help those who have lost loved ones. The charity funded refreshments and craft materials for those who attended.
September 2018
- We held our first ever charity superhero abseil at the BRI! More than 50 NHS staff and supporters abseiled 50ft down the side of the hospital building – many dressed as superheroes to celebrate our superhero staff – raising £7,500. Superstar Jacob Hodkinson wowed the crowds with his fearless abseil! Pupils from St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School in Clayton raised a fabulous £1,450!
- Family and friends of Bob Atkinson, who sadly passed away in Bradford’s Intensive Care Unit, raised an incredible £5,000 at his funeral and via fundraising by his friend Mel Race, who took part in the Yorkshireman Half Marathon in his memory. The money will be used to purchase communication aids, similar to the aids Bob used during his time in the unit.
- Our corporate partners The Broadway Bradford and staff from Radiology took part in the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge, raising almost £3,000.
October 2018
- We helped celebrate The Broadway Bradford’s third birthday party in style, with a giant cake which featured our new logo.
- Bradford councillor Richard Dunbar and Mark Stevens ran the Bradford Half Marathon to raise money for the charity’s neonatal fund. They chose our charity after Mark’s son, Jonah, was born at 28 weeks and cared for in the unit. So far their Just Giving total has raised £1,260!
- Dalvinder Hellawell and Harriet Farr ran the Yorkshire Marathon, raising a magnificent £1,945.
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity joined forced with Bosom Friends to transform a care and counselling room for cancer patients at Bradford Royal Infirmary.
- Our charity provided £15,960 to fund Schwartz Rounds for our staff. The sessions help the psychological wellbeing of staff by encouraging them to talk about their experiences.
- More than £5,000 was provided by our charity to fund Sage & Thyme communications training for staff working with cancer patients, to enhance their skills.
November 2018
- The first ever Neonatal Ball, organised by Sister Andrea Firth, was a resounding success. The ball, which attracted both staff and parents of babies who received treatment, raised £15,000 for the charity’s neonatal fund.
- We launched our ‘Spread some sparkle for Axl’ campaign, to raise money for toys and specialist play equipment for children receiving treatment in our hospitals. The campaign was in memory of little Axl Walker, who sadly died in March 2018.
December 2018
- Bradford City and The Alhambra Theatre pantomime cast pledged their support to Spread some sparkle for Axl.
- Staff and supporters across Bradford wore something sparkly to raise money for Axl’s Toy Fund, as part of our Spread some sparkle for Axl Christmas campaign. Our Just Giving page is still open and money is still coming in, with it standing at around £4,000.
- Bradford City players visited patients and staff at BRI and St Luke’s Hospital to spread some Christmas cheer! We look forward to working with them again in 2019!
- The UK Tesla Owner’s Group donated a child’s miniature Tesla car for your young patients undergoing scans and operations. It is the first step towards our radiology department becoming more child-friendly.
- Thanks to the generous donations of Bradford businesses, schools and charities, children receiving treatment in hospital over the festive period received Christmas gifts. Expect Distribution purchased every single item on the Children’s Ward Amazon Wish List! The charity also funded presents for adult patients.
- Sister Andrea Firth organised a delicious Christmas breakfast and afternoon tea for all parents of newborns in the Neonatal Unit on Christmas Day, thanks to a generous donation from Tesco.
During the year, the charity has also replaced several televisions for patient rooms, toys for children, and funded staff training courses and study fees which are over and above what the NHS is able to fund.