#25 appeal comes to an end
A year of fundraising to mark 25 years of charitable work by My WiSH Charity has come to a conclusion with the target of £25,000 being reached.
The #25 appeal was launched on September 15th last year, the charity’s 25th birthday, with the money raised from a host of fundraising events and donations with the money going towards providing a play specialist in the emergency department at the West Suffolk Hospital.
The role has now been taken up by Claire Thompson which was initially funded by the Help Your NHS Hospital Covid appeal with the cash raised from the #25 appeal to pay for a second year.
She has made a big difference to the young patients by helping to make the department less scary and more fun for the young patients and, in turn, potentially prevent future hospital phobia.
Ruth Hassall, lead paediatric nurse in the emergency department, said: “In my experience play specialists can make the whole experience of attending the emergency department more positive for children and their families.
“They can support children, families and staff through difficult experiences, make the department less scary and more fun without taking away from the necessary and often unpleasant things we have to do.
“While the nurses and doctors work to ensure your child is safe and well the play specialist will work to ensure they remember the experience as a positive one, facilitating the work of the other health care professionals and preventing future hospital phobias.
“Even when they are not there the behind the scenes work the play specialists do means their presence is felt 24/7 by both staff and patients.”
The appeal called on people to think of and take part in fundraising ideas involving the number 25 and it prompted a host of initiatives to help raise the money.
During the year the charity shared stories of historical charitable donations and acts and included the 1907 pageant in the Abbey Gardens which raised money to care for the “poorer classes” and to tackle tuberculosis which was rife at the time by opening the Bury St Edmunds and West Suffolk Sanatorium.
They told of the history of the charity including the scanner appeal which brought the first CT scanner to West Suffolk, thanks to donations, and the launch of the hospital charity in 2013 along with the rebrand to My WiSH Charity in 2018.
The public supported the appeal including Lisa Crook with a My WiSH Readathon; £9,000 was raised by the family of Alex Badman who worked at RAF Mildenhall as operations flight deputy commander 100th Air Refuelling Wing for eight years, who sadly died in February this year, and who was often asked to don a Father Christmas costume to hand out presents to children in Bury St Edmunds, RAF Mildenhall and further afield; and the Neptune furnishing store in Bury St Edmunds who donated over £6,000, in lieu of their annual Christmas fayre which sadly couldn’t be held due to the pandemic.
The final donation came from Claire sister, Sarah Bones, who spent 10 months covering 674 miles which was equivalent to walking from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
She completed her challenge on September 4 raising over £1,500.
Sue Smith, head of fundraising, praised the public for their support. “Heading the local NHS charity over the past eighteen months has been a real challenge but the support of everyone for this appeal, whilst also supporting our Covid work, has been incredible. We didn’t know if we could reach our goal in our anniversary year but we should never have doubted the support the community gives us. We are truly blessed.”
My WiSH continues to support patients and has actively supported West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust during the Covid-19 pandemic, supporting both patients and staff.
It helps to enhance care, including the continuation of the WiSH Upon A Star children’s appeal, the Forget-Me-Not Dementia appeal, supporting the Macmillan unit and caring for people of all ages and aspects of care. For more information or to support your local NHS charity go to www.mywishcharity.co.uk.