Thank you to everyone that has supported us so far...

Leona Harris & colleagues at Fairfield General, Bury, helping a patient facetime with an Ipad donated by #staytogether:

The Team on one of the Covid wards at Fairfield General, Bury

Ward 7, Fairfield General with their iPad

Ramsbottom Ward, Fairburn General

South Ward, Fairfield

Jess Farman a nurse on the Covid Ward at Leeds General Infirmary told us:

The Beatson Cancer Centre, Scotland

Furness General Hospital, Cumbria

Nurse at the Royal Albert Edward in Wigan with a donated iPad

Staff at The Orchard, Lancaster receiving donated tablets.

Kingston Hospital, London

Message of Thanks received from Bradford Royal infirmary after we donated money so that they could purchase their own tablets;

Butler Green, Manchester

Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax

Hazel Preston, Operational Manager at Park House, said

Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who said;

Killelea, Bury

Prospect Park, Reading

Royal Oldham Hospital

Brendan was able to see his family for the first time in 5 weeks using a tablet that we donated to the hospital. Brendan is currently in recuperating in a care home and we've donated another tablet to him and his family so that they can keep in touch until he's able to come home.

Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, Wales

Manchester Childrens Hospital, Neo Natal

Morecambe Bay

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust who said;

York Teaching Hospital

Stockport

The Royal Surrey County Hospital said:

St Bartholomews Trust, London received 3 tablets. Read what a nurse had to say about the 'infectious joy' that the tablets brought to patients here

Salford Royal Hospital

Dr Basu from Trafford General Hospital tweeted his thanks for their tablets:

Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care NHS Trust with their tablet, said:

Scarborough Hospital with their tablets;

Melburn Lodge, Melrose, Scotland

Melrose Hospital, Scotland

University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire Charity

Spring Hill Hospice, Rochdale

Floyd Unit, Rochdale

A Patient at Tudor Court, Rochdale using the tablet donated by #Staytogether for the first time.

Royal Manchester Children's Hospital

Warrington Halton Hospital Charity thanked us for the tablets we donated;

Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Scotland

Princess of Wales Hospital

Bealey Community Hospital

University Hospital of Wales

Bolton Hospital who said;

We have donated £2,000 to The Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust to buy tablets for The Royal Liverpool, Broadgreen and Ainstree Hospitals. Mark McKenna, Head of Patient and Family Experience for the Trust said;

Musgrove Park, Somerset said;

Bolton Hospital

Sarah Cherry, Community and Events Fundraiser of the Yeovil Hospital Charity said;

St Columbus Hospice in Edinburgh thanked us for the iPad we donated to them;

Macclesfield Hospital, which is part of the East Cheshire NHS Trust, sent a letter to let us know how our iPads can be used;

Barnsley Hospital wrote a letter of thanks for the 2 iPads which were donated by #staytogether;

How #staytogether began

Do you know that very often, the only way a patient who is on a Covid-19 hospital isolation ward can see or speak to their loved ones, is by borrowing a phone or tablet from a Doctor or Nurse?

And all too often, we are hearing distressing stories where Covid-19 patients have died without being able to see, or even, in some cases, speak to their family or friends, simply because there weren’t enough phones or tablets to go around!

Leona Harris, a nurse at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury started raising funds to purchase ipads after seeing first hand the impact Covid-19 and visiting restrictions were having on patients and their families.

“When someone is admitted to hospital they are isolated from the moment they arrive on a ward, and that isolation extends to their family who have no further contact, or very limited contact, with their loved ones. It is so upsetting, people have passed away without any family being with them.

“I could see that the staff at the hospital where I work are doing their best and some have lent their own phones and tablets to patients to help them keep in touch, but it’s not enough.”

The #staytogether campaign has the support of Leona’s husband Nick who coordinated the fundraising efforts of the law firm where he works, and his colleagues at Simpson Millar to help raise in excess of £27.5k within a matter of days which has been donated directly to the cause.

#staytogether

#staytogether is a simple idea.

At a time when the government is quite rightly urging social distancing, we want to keep families and friends together when they need it the most.

Any funds we raise will be used to purchase tablets for hospitals that have been selected by colleagues at Simpson Millar. This will allow patients who are isolated because of Covid-19 to see their loved ones.

Amanda Mealing , Photo Credit: Tennee Attoh for Mixedracefaces

Amanda Mealing who plays Connie Beauchamp in BBC's Casualty has pledged her support for the campaign following the death of her friends father whilst in hospital with Covid-19:

You can read the families story here

Amanda Clapham, a Hollyoaks actress, recently supported Leona and the campaign saying;

See her video here

Ariana Grande has also posted a message of support on her Instagram stories:

The post is saved in her Covid-19 Stories

Help to make sure no one is alone

The aim is to make sure no one is alone at what is an emotional and challenging time. And to do this we need to get the word out about #staytogether. Not only do we need everyone to make a small donation but we also need you to help spread the word too. We need you to tell your families, friends and work colleagues - share #staytogether with everyone you know … and by doing so we believe we can make a real difference to someone when they need it the most.

Simpson Millar Fundraising Efforts

Our colleagues have worked hard, and had fun, raising money to purchase the ipads and tablets for the hospitals. They've done everything from sponsored head shaves, running double marathons (within permitted exercise times) and organising online office quizzes. Here's a few of the pictures:

Mark Fearnley, Head of Contact centre at Simpson Millar, who has completed the equivalent of 2 marathon's this week in return for sponsorship from friends, family & colleagues:

Jack Bookey. Paralegal, has organised a Lockdown office quiz - colleagues have donated £5 to take part:

Sean Swimby, Head of Marketing Delivery & Sales, took fundraising to great lengths when he shaved his head for the cause, much to the dismay of his wife:

Before:

After:

Jacqueline Smith, Legal Secretary, is being sponsored by family and friends to walk 10k steps every day in May;

Our EL/PL Team have taken on a Cycling Challenge, cycling everyday for 1 hour during lockdown;

Thank you for your support

We'd like to thank everyone who has supported #staytogether by donating and sharing our campaign - we have been overwhelmed by your generosity. We have been inspired by the ways you have been able to raise money for the cause, here are a few of our favourites so far;

Rolande raised £300 by auctioning off 'Bow' the NHS Hare that she carved. We have donated an iPad to Tameside Hospital who recently cared for Rolande's father;

Gina raised £300 by drawing people's houses. We will be donating an iPad to Blackpool Victoria on Gina's behalf;

Thank you to our Partners

We've also been supported by other companies to help make #staytogether happen;

£2,500 donated by Doorway Capital

£200 donated by Nestor

£1,000 donated by Usdaw

DSG supplied the tablets for the campaign

Churchward Logistics for delivering tablets to hospitals across the UK

Hospitals we are supporting

Each of our offices have selected a local hospital that is fighting the virus. These have been selected due to the work they are doing ‘on the front line’ in the fight against Covid-19 in each of our local communities.

We know these are tough times at the moment. However, we believe that #staytogether will help make a real difference.

These are the nominated hospitals so far - and we're still adding to the list:

Manchester: Fairfield General Hospital, Bury, Manchester Royal Infirmary , Stepping Hill, Manchester , Wythenshawe, Manchester , The Royal Albert Edward Hospital, Wigan , North Manchester Hospital, Killelea House, Butler Green - Chadderton, Macclesfield District Hospital, Salford Royal Hospital, Trafford General Hospital, Floyd Unit, Birch Hill Rochdale,, Tudor Court, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Bealey Community Hospital

Bristol: Bristol Royal Infirmary ,Southmead , Bristol Nightingale

Wales: Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport , Neville Hall, Abergevennay , YYF, University Hospital of Wales, Princess of Wales Hospital

Liverpool: Warrington Hospital , The Royal Liverpool Hospital , Aintree Hospital , Liverpool, Broadgreen Hospital , Liverpool, Arrowe Park, Whiston, St Helen's, Macclesfield

Southport: Southport & Ormskirk Hospital

Lancaster: The Furness General Hospital, Cumbria , The Orchard, Royal Lancaster Infirmary

London: Kingston Hospital, London, Epsom & St Helier, The Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guilford , St Barts Health Trust, Prospect Park, Reading, The Royal Brompton, Musgrove Park , Yeovil Hospital

Yorkshire: Leeds General Infirmary , St James Hospital, Leeds, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary , NHS Nightingale Yorkshire & Humber, Harrogate Calderdale Royal Hospital , Halifax, Bradford Royal Infirmary , Scarborough, The Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Rotherham General , Barnsley Hospital

Scotland: Melburn Lodge, Melrose, Borders General Hospital, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, The Beatson Cancer Centre , St Columbus Hospice, Edinburgh

For the latest updates, please see the Simpson Millar Stay Together Page