Posted on: 12 Nov 2021
A special anniversary message from our Charity Chief Executive, Barbara Cathcart.
On 7th November 2006, Nottingham Hospitals Charity was formed – and I am so proud to have been there from the very beginning.
Over the past 15 years, we have achieved some remarkable things for the benefit of patients and staff at Nottingham Hospitals; with more than £50million donated, fundraised, given as gifts in memory of loved ones, or left in legacies to support our hospitals.
Our grants have ranged from the relatively small – such as photographic paper to allow new parents to see their babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit – to entire, new facilities, like the Wolfson Cystic Fibrosis Centre, and the intra-operative MRI suite for young patients with brain tumours at Nottingham Children’s Hospital.
It has been a true privilege to be part of this, and I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our long-standing team members who have been there from the beginning, as well as those who have joined us along the way – bringing new ideas and enthusiasm to our growing charity.
While our fundraising and communications teams have worked tirelessly to raise money and spread the message about what we do, our finance team have been dedicated to ensuring the funds raised are spent where they are most needed, and will have the most beneficial impact on patients at our hospitals.
Our finance audits have been consistently excellent – our funds are exceptionally well governed, and it brings me great pride and satisfaction to know our supporters’ donations are being used in the best possible way.
I would like to thank our dedicated board of Trustees for all their support and expertise over the years, especially our current Chair, Carole Ayre, and our former Chair, William Colacicchi.
This year has been particularly remarkable because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has truly galvanized the support of the local community. A fairly modest appeal target of £100,000 was tripled to more than £300,000 in a matter of weeks, with all the money raised going straight to supporting staff at our hospitals during this most challenging of times.
I am extremely grateful to the people of Nottinghamshire for giving their support, and to the dedicated NHS staff who have cared for us all throughout the pandemic.
Over the past year I have been incredibly touched to have received two awards – one personally for Public and Third Sector Leader at the East Midlands Leadership Awards, and one as a Charity, the Community Impact Award at the East Midlands Business Masters. It is a true testament to the amazing work we are able to do here at Nottingham Hospitals – all thanks to the individuals and organisations across the local community who have continued to support us over the past 15 years.
Thank you so much for supporting our work and allowing us to make a real difference to patients and staff at our hospitals.