QE hospital charity
QE Gateshead Charitable Funds is the charity attached to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead.
Last year, more than £405,000 was raised by patients and their families, staff fundraising, through donations from bereaved families and kind legacies left to the hospital.
From participating in events such as the Great North Run to organising family fun days and social evenings, the lengths our fundraisers will go to in their support of us is truly amazing. For example, there’s the anonymous gentleman, who every year gives a cheque for our gynae cancer ward in memory of Holly. Then there’s our consultant Clive Kelly, who organised a photo exhibition to raise funds to help refugees in the hospital. And there’s the family of Daniel, one of our special care babies, who asked for donations to the special care baby unit in lieu of presents at Daniel’s christening.
Ian Renwick, Chief Executive, said: “We are always extremely grateful when patients or relatives who have had a positive experience of the care we offer decide to go that extra step and donate or fundraise to help support the work of the hospital further.
“The support they give is always very gratefully received and we realised that we need to do more to make our charity more visible and accessible to people and to provide fundraisers with some extra support and assistance.
“People give money for all sorts of reasons and the amount is never an issue. There is always a story behind a donation or fundraising, which can be very humbling for us. We have families raise money for loved ones who have been in our St Bede’s Unit, on our special care baby unit or in the critical care department. We have cancer patients who raise money for the screening services, the surgeons and the wards on which they were treated. And then we have been fortunate to receive some very generous legacies from people who remember the QE in their will.
“We’re also very clear with our staff how the money can be spent. It must go on providing extra equipment which will improve the patient experience, research or staff training.
“I hope people in Gateshead who have come into contact with the QE take the time to find out a bit more about our charity and we welcome any involvement anyone wishes to provide.”
The charity’s website is: www.qegatesheadcharitablefunds.org.uk or telephone 0191 445 6451. The charity is also on Facebook by searching for QE Gateshead Charitable Funds or Twitter by following @QEfunds. Anyone wishing to make a donation can visit the cashiers desk at the QE Hospital or visit www.justgiving.com/qegateshead.
Read our Annual Report 2014-15
You can contact the Charitable Funds Manager on 0191 445 6451 or ghnt.charitablefunds@nhs.net for more information.