Hospital Charity Makes £1m for Health and Wellbeing Hub
The ‘A Night Under the Rainbow’ evening event, hosted at Chatsworth House by The Chesterfield Royal Hospital Charity, heralded the announcement that they are halfway there – raising £1m to date!
Business and community leaders from across the region were invited to the prestigious event, co-hosted and funded by the Duke of Devonshire to raise support and donations for the purpose-built Health and Wellbeing Hub at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS FT.
The £2m appeal for the Health and Wellbeing Hub is the Charity’s most ambitious appeal in its history. The speakers for the event included the Duke of Devonshire, Beverley Webster OBE, Chair of the Charity Development Board as well as heartfelt pleas from two Critical Care Matrons, Maxine Hardy and Natalie Cooper-Hatch – both talked about the personal impact of the pandemic and how the Hub will be vital for supporting colleagues in to the future.
Alongside the grandeur and splendour, as well as Webster the Duck – the 8-foot charity mascot – the star of the show was local women, Nicola Mounsley, who was a nurse at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS FT and sadly lost her husband, Ian (51), to the illness in March 2021.
Atul Patel, Chair of the Chesterfield Royal Charity, who also spoke on the evening, said: “It’s fantastic news that we are now halfway to our goal. To raise £1m is such a mark of success for us and after last night, I’m confident that we can reach for our goal and have the Hub built and open in Spring 2023.
“I’d like to thank everybody who joined us on the evening in the Painted Hall. The message was clear, we need to provide these facilities to ‘care for the carers’ and I’m confident that those who attended will be able to provide the vital funds to really leave a legacy at the hospital for our 4,500 workforce to truly benefit from.”
One of the first of its kind, the Hub plans to offer all working at the hospital from porters to radiologists, physiotherapists to cooks, financial accountants to receptionists, a real haven to actively look after their health and wellbeing – supporting them to care for the people of Chesterfield.
The Hub would include counselling rooms and complimentary therapies as well as talking therapies and areas for group and individual reflections after traumatic incidents, like those seen during the pandemic. There is a proposed gym and multi-use games area too.
Donations can be made through the Trust website or Chesterfield Royal Hospital Charity – JustGiving.
Ken Godber, Charity Director, added: “We want to ensure that everybody at the hospital will benefit from the Hub and we need everybody in the community to be involved – this isn’t just about businesses or community groups coming to Chatsworth. We now need everybody to get behind us and held raise the vital funds to make this a reality going forward.”
The Health and Wellbeing Hub has a number of high-profile partners: NHS Charities Together committed £250,000 and Westfield Health further contributed £250,000 – both of whom were speakers on the night through Ellie Orton OBE, Chief Executive of NHSCT and Steve Purdham, Chair of Westfield Health.
