I’m fundraising for Barts Charity to support the incredible work, dedicated staff and wonderful patients of the Barts Health NHS Trust. Your donation will support vital work within the hospitals and communities.

As part of the Violence Reduction Programme at the Royal London Hospital, just one of the many projects funded across the Trust, I have seen first-hand the difference that the charity can make. Their funding has enabled ground-breaking research into the preventable factors of violence, meaning that the trauma service can protect our cohort of injured patients from future harm. This programme will hopefully continue to develop as we identify innovative ways to deliver safety within communities, preventing injury from occurring in the first place.

Here are just a few examples of what your donations can mean to patients and loved ones:

• £5 could buy a bereavement book for children, helping them understand what it means when someone dies.

• £10 could buy an ‘eye club’ session for a child with eye cancer to make friends and learn how to look after their artificial eye.

• £28 could buy flowers for a sensory garden to entertain and distract patients in hospital.

• £30 could buy an hour of trauma research, helping to save more lives after serious injury

• £30 could buy a radio for the Special Care Baby Unit, playing lullabies for babies to get them to sleep and giving parents a chance to relax.

• £78 could pay for a patient pamper day on the Older People’s ward, with manicures, hair styling and massages to make patients feel special.
  

• £100 could buy a therapeutic art
  session for patients living with cancer, helping them reduce their anxiety.
  

I am running the Hackney Half to demonstrate my belief in this initiative and the charity, and hope that you can all dig deep and support me in my efforts. I hope to raise at least £1,000 this May, and if I achieve this goal I promise to run a full marathon next time!

Thank you for joining me to transform the lives of patients in our hospitals, our communities, across the UK and around the world. Together, we can make extraordinary healthcare happen.