Record-breaking year for charity raising cash for Sick Kids hospital

a CHARITY which raises funds to support children and young people in hospital has enjoyed its most successful year yet.
Sick Kids Friends Foundation  has announced it smashed its target for donations in 2016. Picture; contributedSick Kids Friends Foundation  has announced it smashed its target for donations in 2016. Picture; contributed
Sick Kids Friends Foundation has announced it smashed its target for donations in 2016. Picture; contributed

More than £1.8 million was donated to the Sick Kids Friends Foundation (SKFF) in 2016 – smashing its previous record, set a year earlier, of £95,723.

SKFF also dished out £3.2m in grants – the highest amount it’s ever spent over 12 months.

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But despite breaking records, bosses have insisted that there will be no complacency as it keeps up its battle to improve the lives of young patients.

Sick Kids Friends Foundation supports the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the capital. Picture; contributedSick Kids Friends Foundation supports the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the capital. Picture; contributed
Sick Kids Friends Foundation supports the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the capital. Picture; contributed

Roslyn Neely, CEO at the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, said: “While the clinical work of the hospital is world class and often groundbreaking, the challenge to keep fundraising continues. We need the support of fundraisers to help us provide the magical extras which make a child or young person’s stay in hospital easier and more special.”

The largest share of the 2016 grants went to the Art and Therapeutic Design programme at the new Sick Children’s hospital, due to open at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary site in Little France next year.

By the time the new hospital opens its doors, SKFF will have donated £3m to the programme.

Ms Neely said: “We were, and continue to be, overwhelmed by the huge amount of support that we received throughout 2016 and we want to express how grateful we are to everyone who was involved with fundraising and donating.

Picture; contributedPicture; contributed
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“We want anyone who helped the Sick Kids Friends Foundation in any way last year to know just how much their support is appreciated, not just by us but by the children and families who visited the hospital and used its services.

“As a result of the support we receive, children and young people’s lives are less interrupted by illness; they are less scared of hospital and a have a positive experience.

“Expressing our gratitude is the least we can do compared to all that our supporters have done and continue to do for us. So from all of us at Sick Kids Friends Foundation, we’d like to say a huge thank you.”

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SKFF made 82 grants in 2016 – such as donations of equipment, training and research – to the hospital, as well as some services within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). It also funded projects and services delivered at St John’s Hospital in Livingston and Borders General Hospital.

Sick Kids Friends Foundation supports the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the capital. Picture; contributedSick Kids Friends Foundation supports the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the capital. Picture; contributed
Sick Kids Friends Foundation supports the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the capital. Picture; contributed

The grants included an 
innovative project to improve the quality of life for children with epilepsy; music at cots and bedsides for babies in critical care; memory boxes for grieving parents and self-management workshops for children and young people with long-term conditions.

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