£150k donation funds Glasgow children's hospital microscope

SUPERSTORE Morrisons awards £150,000 to fund a state-of-the-art surgical microscope - the first of its kind in a children's hospital in Scotland - thanks to a 13-year-old girl.

Hospital ambassador Jenny Cook with Craig Russell, lead for paediatric plastic surgery. Picture: Martin Shields/Contributed

The Morrisons Foundation, which uses funds raised by the 5p plastic carrier bag charge to support charity projects, learned of the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity’s appeal for funding from East Kilbride schoolgirl Jenny Cook when she asked her local Morrisons to help with a car boot sale.

Jenny, a Young Ambassador for the Charity and patient at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, suffers from the chronic bowel disease ulcerative colitis.

Following an operation to remove her large bowel at just six years old Jenny embarked on an extraordinary fundraising journey, and has received support from Morrisons in Stewartfield for many years.

Following an application from the Charity to the Foundation, a £150,000 grant was awarded earlier this year, and the surgical microscope has now been installed in the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.

The microscope will help thousands of children each year who undergo operations including facial reconstruction, cleft surgery, tumour removal and lower limb reconstruction.

The level of detail provided by the microscope will give surgeons the ability to make more informed decisions, improving the surgical outcome and reducing the psychological distress children often experience as a result of multiple operations.

Jenny said: “My local Morrisons has helped me with lots of fundraising activities.

“The staff are lovely and are always so kind, I’ve been allowed to bake biscuits in the bakery, help as a florist and even got to cut the ribbon when the store re-opened.

“I’m very happy that the Morrisons Foundation gave Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity this donation, which is very generous and will help lots of boys and girls who are treated at the hospital like me”.

Shona Cardle, Chief Executive at the charity, said: “We are hugely grateful to the Morrisons Foundation for this extremely generous gift, which will help to improve the treatment of so many children every year.

“The operations that these young patients require are often life-changing, and the importance of having the best possible equipment cannot be underestimated.

“It’s remarkable that our partnership with the Morrisons Foundation started with Jenny’s small but thoughtful gesture, and shows what can be achieved when we work together with local communities and businesses”.

David Scott, Trustee of the Morrisons Foundation added: “We are delighted to have awarded this grant to Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity.

“The microscope will make a life-changing difference for thousands of children in Scotland and will help to improve young people’s lives for many years to come.”

Following the hospital move from the Yorkhill site in June 2015 to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, Yorkhill Children’s Charity is now known as Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity.

The hospital treats 168,000 babies, children and young people from across Scotland every year.

The charity has already invested more than £9 million in the new children’s hospital and will continue to raise money to ensure that Scotland’s children and their families receive the best possible care.

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