Campaign to be £15m tonic for Sci Kids

Published on Wednesday 11 February 2009 09:07

A MAJOR new campaign to raise millions of pounds to kit out Edinburgh's new Sick Kids Hospital is set to be launched.

The drive, which is being backed by the Evening News, will involve a series of high-profile fundraising events over the next four years. A separate arm of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation has been created specifically for the appeal, which will be named the New Pyjamas Campaign.

A high-profile patron is also to be announced to front the campaign, with the aim of raising 15 million, which will be over and above the 50m of Scottish Government money set aside to build the new hospital at Little France.

The extra cash will be used to buy pioneering paediatric equipment to help make the Sick Kids one of the leading children's hospitals in the world, as well as other items not included in the Holyrood money such as toys and additional educational equipment.

It is hoped that if the appeal money can secure world-leading technology for the hospital, it will help encourage some of the world's best consultants to join the hospital team.

With additional funds, it is also expected the hospital could be at the forefront of research on paediatric care.

TODAY the Evening News is delighted to announce that it is continuing its fundraising partnership with the city's Sick Kids hospital by backing the New Pyjamas Campaign.

Last year we campaigned successfully for the retention of a childrens' hospital in Edinburgh amid fears the government was poised to close one of three existing units in the country.

A commitment was given to build a new facility at Little France. The Evening News has also backed a successful 100,000 appeal to build a Drop in Centre at the existing hospital which opened in May 2006.

Today we urge everyone to get behind the latest appeal to ensure that the new hospital will be fully fitted out to a world-class standard.

Look out in the Evening News in the coming months for further details of how you can help.

The appeal will be launched at a high-profile event at Dundas Castle, South Queensferry, at the end of this month, and the finishing touches are being put to a website to allow people to donate.

The director of the New Pyjamas Campaign, Elaine McGonigle, said: "A new children's hospital is about much more than a building. It's about our investment in the most significant asset we have – our children."

The Evening News revealed last year how a deal had been struck between NHS Lothian and the Scottish Government to publicly fund a move for the hospital from the current site at Sciennes out to a purpose-built modern facility beside the ERI.

The new hospital will be up and running by the end of 2012, and it is hoped this campaign will mean the cash can be raised well in advance of then.

Ms McGonigle added: "Everyone familiar with the Sick Kids feels great affection for the charming, rambling Victorian building.

"But parents and staff realise that on a practical level, the lack of space is a problem.

"The new hospital will be specifically designed for its young patients. It will be as close to a home setting as it can be, and yet offer everything you would expect from a top-class children's hospital.

That's all going to take several million pounds, and the New Pyjamas Campaign has a vital part to play in this."

Some tweaks will be made to the new hospital. For instance, the age of those being cared for will be raised from 13 to 16, and in some special cases 18. Although the exact location is yet to be determined, it will be close to the ERI, allowing greater links to be forged between the two hospitals.

Gordon Munro, a Labour councillor for the Leith ward, has two daughters who were treated at the hospital and is backing the new campaign.

He said: "It is such a wonderful facility and much-loved, and I think this is a realistic target.

"The current building perhaps isn't what a 21st-century hospital should be, but it's the staff and the equipment that make it what it is, and all that with the new building will make it an unrivalled facility."

Pam Pearson, 35, whose six-year-old son Charlie has used the Sick Kids extensively as he battles leukaemia, said while the care offered by the hospital was first-class, a new building would provide additional bonuses. One option is to create single rooms at Little France, which would allow youngsters more privacy and offer the possibility of younger siblings staying overnight.

That would mean Charlie's younger brother Louis would be able to keep him company.

Mrs Pearson said: "This is fantastic. The Sick Kids has fantastic equipment, but it could do with a bit of updating."

For more information on the fundraising campaign for the new Sick Kids e-mail [e-mail] or telephone Elaine McGonigle on 0131-659 7010.