April 2019 - Leicester Hospitals Charity

'New life' party helps buy birthing pool

As a charity, we rely of the kindness of donors to help support the appeals that make our services at Leicester’s Hospitals even better.

Donors like Katy Cooper of Leicestershire-based pregnancy and hypnobirthing group Body to Baby, who today presented our Home Birth Team with a donation of £179 towards the Home Birth Team Appeal raised from a party and raffle with her colleagues.

With the theme of ‘new life’, the team brought together everyone who had taken part in her hypnobirthing antenatal courses, pre and postnatal yoga classes, or relaxation workshops, to celebrate bringing new life into the world.

Katy says there was no question about her and the team choosing to support the Home Birth Team Appeal – specifically to help them buy a brand new birthing pool.

“One of our core values is ‘giving back’ and so we did a raffle draw where lots of local businesses donated loads of amazing gifts and we raised money for the amazing Home Birth Team,” says Katy. “We wanted to raise enough money to donate a new birth pool and we did that and more!

“I have had two home births myself and I know lots of mums who have used the Home Birth Team and they have had truly beautiful births, so raising money for them was a must.

“I know many women will gain such benefits during their births by having that extra birth pool.”

Annabelle Barker, the Home Birth Team leader, says the team is delighted with the donation.

“It’s this kind of support and generosity which enhances the home birth service we are able to provide,” explains Annabelle.

“Having birth pools ensures that we are able to offer water birth at home as a choice for all families who opt for a home birth, making it an equitable service. The birth pools need replacing after reaching the maximum number of uses and so we rely on donations such as Katy’s to keep the service going.

“Since having two birth pools in circulation, the home water birth rate in UHL has increased from 28.3% to 42.3%.”

To find out more about the Home Birth Team Appeal, or to donate to support it, make sure you check out its appeal page.

Volunteers get their gloves on for Secret Garden Pruning Day!

A team of enthusiastic volunteers got into the Spring cleaning spirit yesterday for Pruning Day at Glenfield Hospital’s Secret Garden.

Led by Leicestershire Heritage Apple Project’s Nigel Deacon, the group of five volunteers got their pruning gloves on and spent a lovely sunny day helping to treat and trim the neglected apple trees around the Secret Garden site.

Leicester Hospitals Charity’s Trust’s and Foundations Manager, Sue Stevenson, was on hand to help out the crew.

“We spent all morning pruning the trees, beginning the task of restoring these neglected apple trees and giving them the best chance of survival into the future,” says Sue.

“These apple trees have been a part of the Secret Garden for years and years but have long gone without any management or maintenance, so they were in real need of some TLC!”

For another view on the day’s activity, check out Sutton Elms.

Located behind the Mansion House on the grounds of Glenfield Hospital, the Secret Garden aims to provide a new, tranquil space of natural beauty for our patients, visitors and staff and the wider community to all enjoy.

We’re looking for greenfingered folks to get involved as volunteers, supporters and donators to help us realise the full potential of this precious project.

Help give your community better health and wellbeing, education and relaxation opportunities by getting in touch with the Secret Garden team today.

To find out more about the project and how you can get involved in the Secret Garden now and in the future, email TheSecretGarden@nhs.net or Sue at sue.stevenson@nhs.net or call 0116 258 4114.

New Syed Foundation set to benefit Leicester's Hospitals

Leicester Hospitals Charity is delighted to have been one of the first ever beneficiaries of The Syed Foundation – a brand new Leicester-based charity that celebrated its official launch last night.

Founded by noted local restauranteur and philanthropist Syed Rahman, The Syed Foundation aims to raise thousands of pounds a year to support local medical services and charities – including Leicester Hospitals Charity, the official charity of Leicester’s three NHS hospitals.

The launch of The Syed Foundation was marked by a special gala dinner last night at the Chef & Spice restaurant on Hinckley Road – attended by a number of dignitaries, including Leicester MPs Liz Kendall and Jon Ashworth, the assistant High Commissioner for Bangladesh Mr Muhammad Nazmul Hoque and the Mayor of Braunstone, Cllr Sharon Betts.

To mark the occasion, Syed Rahman presented a cheque of £5,000 to Leicester Hospitals Charity – the first ever donation made by the new foundation.

As the owner of the Chef & Spice and Cuisine of India restaurants, Syed Rahman has regularly hosted fundraising dinners at his establishments since 2007.

Syed says he has always been compelled to use his businesses to help people in need.

“I truly believe that the NHS is our national treasure,” says Syed.

“Our hospitals represent the best of Britain and I believe we need to show our support for them. I want to help the work that Leicester Hospitals Charity do for the patients of their hospitals – especially those who are receiving treatment for rarer conditions.”

Director of Leicester Hospitals Charity, Lisa Davies, says the charity is delighted to be one of the first organisations to benefit from this new endeavour.

“We are truly honoured to be named as one of the first charities set to benefit from the launch of The Syed Foundation,” says Lisa.

“Mr Rahman has been a prolific fundraiser in Leicester for over a decade and his remarkable efforts have helped to raise over half a million pounds to help people not just here in Leicester, but across the country and even internationally too.

“We are so grateful to Mr Rahman for supporting our efforts to provide hospitals upgrades to benefit patients, visitors and staff across all three of Leicester’s Hospitals.”

The public will be able to show their support for The Syed Foundation’s charitable ambitions by attending various charity fundraising nights that will be held at the Chef & Spice and Cuisine of India restaurants, or by donating an optional £1 to their bills any time they visit either of these establishments.

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