THE CHARITY CHALLENGE OF A LIFETIME

I love working for the NHS; I am proud of everything it stands for and to be part of the 13,000 individuals that work for Leeds Teaching Hospitals’ Trust. However at the moment it is seems we are barraged with negativity surrounding the NHS, whether this is because of ward closures or the proposed closure of the children’s heart surgery unit in Leeds.

Hi, my name is Kirsten; I live in Leeds and I am a staff nurse in acute medicine at Jimmy’s. I want to help support the compassionate care that so many patients receive everyday by fundraising on behalf of The Leeds Children’s Hospital and Acute Medicine (Ward 26) at St. James’ to achieve some small things that I believe will make a big difference.

I am going to venture out (way out!) of my comfort zone; To do this my summer holiday will be spent cycling 348 miles over the Alps along part of the Tour De France route from Geneva to Nice. I will be climbing 12,000 metres, spending 8 hours a day in the saddle and averaging distances of 85-95 miles a day. I have brought my bike, I am training hard and needless to say my bottom is sore!

I want to raise £2000; Not a big deal if you are on a banker’s bonus, but an awful lot of money in terms of what it can do to make a better hospital experience for children, their families and patients needing emergency care.

Why am I trying to raise the money? Put simply it’s to try and make hospital a less scary place for children and to make the environment in ward 26 more welcoming and comfortable for patients.

Improving comfort for children;  Leeds Children’s Trust works tirelessly to help buy equipment and resources that make children’s experiences of hospital  less clinical and more aesthetically familiar. We know this reduces anxiety for children and their parents, this in turn helps recovery. Simple distractions such as a toy or being surrounded in fun and colourful artwork is an important facet of health, it keeps young patients connected to things apart from their illness or pain.

Practical solutions to support; Ward 26 at St. James’ hospital is a 26 bedded ward that shares the 80-100 patients admitted to St. James’ for emergency medical treatment daily. Many patients spend part (of even the whole) of their stay on the medical assessment ward. Because of the busy and diverse nature of the environment it is often an area which is overlooked when it comes to charitable donations. What I am fundraising for is to buy the small things that make patient’s stays more comfortable, extra pillows, a TV for the day room or tailored cutlery for patients with dexterity problems (i.e. after a stroke). These are not just my ideas they are results of collaborating with patients and colleagues to discover what matters.

I know times are hard financially and people are constantly asking for charity requests, to me I would much rather people donate just what they can. It’s the thought of having your support which will spur me on as I pedal through that 348th mile which means just as much as the amount you are able to give.  So please let’s all go that extra mile!

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now, thank you