Charity Matters Autumn/Winter 2024

Sky’s the limit for UCLH Charity

At the end of September we were delighted to host our first ever abseil event at the White Collar Factory in the centre of London.

Over 100 UCLH Charity supporters scaled 16 floors (that’s 247 feet) raising funds to support patients, staff and research at UCLH.

Among the intrepid abseilers was divisional facilities manager Faroukh Sorab who took on the challenge to celebrate his retirement.

Faroukh has worked at UCLH for 20 years at the Queen Square site – but like many UCLH colleagues, he wanted to give something back by raising money for UCLH Charity.

Faroukh said: “I am ready to retire after 20 years’ service at UCLH, which has given me an opportunity to do my best for our patients and my fantastic team at Queen Square. It has always been my intention to give back something to UCLH, as a big ‘Thank you’ and what better way than to raise funds for UCLH Charity, which does so much to support our patients, staff and research at UCLH.”

Faroukh has raised over £6,000!

Rosannah Dawood, head of fundraising said, “We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who did the abseil. It was lovely to see the smiles of joy – or was it the relief? – as they landed. Thank you to everyone who has donated to their JustGiving pages, your support will enable us to do more to support UCLH”.

Our abseil is just one of many challenges you can take part in to raise money for a great cause. Visit our website at www.uclhcharity.org.uk or email events@uclhcharity.org.uk to find out more.

Bridging the gap

Huge thanks to skincare and fragrance company ARgENTUM apothecary who organised a 31 mile walk across 26 bridges crossing the Thames on a sunny Sunday in July. The walk has raised over £30,000 which will support a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) for patients undergoing treatment for skin cancer at UCLH.

CNSs offer invaluable support to patients on their cancer journey, offering support, guidance and advice for patients, and their families and carers, at what can be a very stressful time.

ARgENTUM have worked with us since the pandemic when they very kindly gifted staff skin care products to counter the effects of wearing personal protective equipment. More recently they have provided luxury skin care kits for patients staying in UCLH’s patient hotel, The Cotton Rooms.

Thank you ARgENTUM!

Charity week

23 – 29 September marked the third UCLH Charity Week, an opportunity to highlight the great work that UCLH Charity does to support patients, staff and research at UCLH.

As part of the Week, the fundraising team were on hand at pop up information stands. Members of staff running the Royal Parks Half Marathon supported Charity Week by baking lots of delicious cakes and bakes, raising money towards their fundraising targets.

The Week ended in style, with the first ever abseil.

Art in the outpatients’ department

The outpatients’ department at University College Hospital treats thousands of patients every year. Improvements have been made to the department to help improve patient and staff experience.

We were delighted to support the project by providing funds to purchase some beautiful artwork by Laura Gee who featured in the UCLH Charity Gardens exhibition earlier on in the year. Cliona Curran, matron for outpatients (pictured left with Dan Wood, outpatients’ services manager) said:

“When the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic was over, we decided it was time to improve the experience for patients visiting our outpatients’ department. We wanted to make it easier for people to find their way around using colour coding and signage, make better use of space and create a warmer, less clinical feel with art on the walls, supplied by UCLH Charity. It’s been a huge project, but we’re getting lots of good comments, so we’re really pleased at how it’s turned out.”

Supporting patients with learning disabilities

As part of Learning Disabilities Week (17-21 June), we funded a workshop with Artbox, an art studio based in Islington that supports artists with learning disabilities and autism to create art and learn new skills.

The aim of the workshop was to get people talking about learning disabilities, diversity and inclusion, while also acting as de-sensitisation for patients who may be scared of hospitals and medical interventions.