Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is urging NHS staff and supporters across the city to ‘raise a cuppa’ to celebrate the NHS birthday on Friday, July 5.
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Chief Nurse, Karen Dawber, and Hayley Collis, Head of Fundraising for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, clinked cups to launch the NHS Big Tea in Bradford.
NHS celebrity doctor and Strictly Come Dancing star, Dr Ranj Singh, joined NHS staff in London to mark the national launch of the event.
The NHS Big Tea campaign is being led by NHS Charities Together – the umbrella member association for NHS charities in the UK. Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is one of 130 member NHS charities in the UK to take part in the campaign. Thousands of tea parties are set to take place on or around July 5 to celebrate the 71st birthday of the NHS and raise money.
Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is calling on everyone who loves the NHS to get behind the event by hosting their own tea party with friends, family and colleagues.
Karen Dawber said: “NHS charities are the unsung heroes of our national health service. They help fund major capital projects, medical equipment, training, pioneering research, brighten up wards and waiting areas and even support hard-working staff.
“We are very lucky to have such a supportive NHS charity here in Bradford which strives to provide the very best for our patients.
“Please join us to raise a cuppa on July 5 by throwing a tea party. Let’s celebrate, have some fun and fundraise!”
Hold your own Big Tea party
Hayley Collis added: “We would love our community to get behind the day of celebration by holding their own NHS Big Tea parties! Why not hold a company-wide tea party? Or hold an NHS day at school, where pupils wear something blue and learn more about our NHS. We have lots of resources to support you, so please get in touch if you would like to find out more!”
Celebrity NHS doctor Dr Ranj Singh said: “The NHS has been a huge part of my life – as it has for millions of people across the country. Our fantastic health service is the envy of the world and the NHS staff who provide such outstanding care for patients every day are extraordinary people.
“I’m delighted to raise a cuppa today to celebrate the launch of the NHS Big Tea, which is the perfect opportunity for everyone who loves our NHS to come together and say thank you.
“By hosting a tea party, you can raise money for NHS charities and show your support for their incredible work.”
Ellie Orton, CEO of NHS Charities Together, said: “NHS charities give £1 million every day to support the NHS, playing an important role in funding major redevelopments, research and medical equipment.
“As well as mobilising volunteers and brightening wards and waiting areas with beautiful art, they also help to build links between our hospitals and our communities – giving everyone the chance to give back to the NHS.
“Whether it’s a traditional builders or a fruity rooibos, we want everyone to dust off the old china, rally their friends, family and colleagues, and come together to raise a cuppa!”
To register your tea party and download your free posters and bunting, visit
https://bradfordhospitalscharity.org/events/nhsbigtea/. To find out more about what is happening across the country, visit www.nhsbigtea.co.uk
To find out more about Bradford Hospitals’ Charity and how you can support your local hospitals, visit www.bradfordhospitalscharity.org. Alternatively, contact Hayley Collis or Elaine Drake on 01274 274809 or email charity@bthft.nhs.uk
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the NHS Big Tea
The NHS Big Tea is an annual fundraising and awareness campaign with the aim of celebrating the NHS birthday on 5 July and recognising the important work of NHS charities in supporting our health service. In hospitals, in homes and in local communities across the country, everyone who loves the NHS is encouraged to come together with friends, family and colleagues to host a tea part and raise a cuppa to the NHS.
The campaign was established by NHS Charities Together in 2018 to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS, with more than 4,000 parties taking place across the UK. Over £250,000 was raised for NHS charities.
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is one of more than 250 NHS charities based around the UK. It supports the strategic direction of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust by funding projects which go over and above what he NHS provides.
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is one of 130 NHS charities to be a member of NHS Charities Together – the umbrella membership association of NHS charities.
- Did you know that collectively, all NHS charities give £1million every single day to the NHS?
- In 2017, a new £28million wing opened at Bradford Royal Infirmary, which was part of a £75m investment to improve patient care across our hospitals. It provides world-class facilities for the elderly, children and a brand new intensive care unit. Bradford Hospitals’ Charity provided £260,000 to enable the Trust to create family friendly environments, state-of-the-art equipment and innovative distraction toys and games for young people.
- With the support of Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, BTHFT was also able to provide more cots, including intensive care and high dependency cots, new family accommodation, a revamped counselling suite and a dedicated room for mothers to express milk for pre-term babies when the new neonatal unit opened in 2015.
For further media information, please contact Kelly Thornham, Communications Officer, at communications@bthft.nhs.uk or call 01274 383352.
Twitter: @BTHFTCharity, Facebook: bradfordhospitalscharity Instagram:bradfordhospitalscharity LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bradfordhospitalscharity
Note to Editors:
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for providing hospital services for the people of Bradford and communities across Yorkshire. We serve a core population of around 500,000 and provide specialist services for 1.1 million people.
Our 5,500 staff work over several sites, including Bradford Royal Infirmary, which provides the majority of inpatient services, and St Luke’s Hospital, which predominantly provides outpatient and rehabilitation services. We also manage local community hospitals at Westwood Park, Westbourne Green, and Eccleshill.
In early 2017, a new £28 million wing opened at Bradford Royal Infirmary, part of a £75m investment to improve patient care across our hospitals over a five-year period. It provides world-class facilities for elderly care, children’s services, a state-of-the-art intensive care unit with increased single-room provision and a retail concourse.
The new wing is a continuation of our work to improve patient experience after our new £2 million neonatal unit officially opened in January 2015. Our maternity services were recently shortlisted for the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Midwifery Service of the Year Award, recognising excellence and innovation in the provision of maternity care.
In 2017, we also completed a £2m refurbishment of our Emergency Department (ED) as part of an ambitious vision to create a more efficient acute medicine service for the people of Bradford. It has been designed to provide a slicker and more efficient service, with faster senior clinical involvement at an early stage in the patient pathway.
As a teaching hospital, we are at the forefront of education and development in healthcare, and have an excellent reputation for research performance. We are one of the leading centres in conducting applied research in the country, particularly in quality and safety, elderly care and rehabilitation.
The Trust is home to the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) where researchers have led the development, validation and implementation of the award-winning Bradford Electronic Frailty Index (eFI) which helps calculate an elderly person’s risk of disability, impairment, falls and complications of chronic diseases, as well as their diminishing independence and capability. This is now being used by 98 per cent of all GPs across the country.
Our award-winning Ophthalmology department is home to numerous worldwide clinical trials taking the lead in eye care research and we are one of only three sites in the United Kingdom to be enlisted in the Perioperative Enhanced Recovery Hip Fracture Care of Patients with Dementia (PERFECTED) study, which will investigate how the NHS can introduce better standards of care to improve outcomes for people with dementia.
The Trust has its own Bradford Hospitals Charity: www.bradfordhospitals.nhs.uk/charity
Follow us on Twitter: @BTHFT
For more information please visit www.bradfordhospitals.nhs.uk