2018 Archives - Leicester Hospitals Charity

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet Leicester’s Hospitals staff

Senior staff at Leicester’s Hospitals had the royal privilege this week of meeting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at King Power Stadium.

A party representing staff and patients from across Leicester’s Hospitals were invited to greet the Duke and Duchess as part of the royal couple’s special visit to Leicester City Football Club to pay respects to late chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others who lost their lives in October’s tragic helicopter accident.

Among those to welcome the royal visitors were Leicester’s Hospitals Chairman Karamjit Singh, Head of Nursing Anna Duke, Leicester Children’s Hospital Senior Project Manager Alex Morrell, Leicester Hospitals Charity’s Debbie Adlerstein and 5-year-old Isla Jesson – a patient at the Leicester Children’s Hospital living with Type-1 Diabetes.

Both Prince William and Catherine spoke to Leicester community groups as part of their visit, with Leicester’s Hospitals sharing exciting plans to create a new children’s hospital for our region at the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Leicester’s Hospitals Chairman Karamjit Singh says it was an honour to share memories and appreciation of Khun Vichai with the royal visitors.

“We are deeply honoured to have been invited to meet with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,” says Mr Singh.

“Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was an unfailingly generous individual who gave much to his football club, to Leicester’s Hospitals and to our city. His remarkable gift of £2m to Leicester Hospitals Charity’s Children’s Hospital Appeal after the Foxes’ Premier League triumph in 2016 was not only an act of tremendous selflessness, it reflected how much he truly cared for the people of Leicester.”

Head of Nursing Anna Duke says it was a pleasure to speak to both Prince William and Catherine and share plans for a new and improved Children’s Hospital.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to tell them how much Khun Vichai’s generosity meant to our hospital and explain our plans to create a new children’s hospital site and improve our children’s services for our patients, their families and our staff,” says Anna.

Leicester Hospitals Charity’s Debbie Adlerstein says her team want to honour Khun Vichai’s charitable spirit.

“Thanks to the generosity of Khun Vichai, we’re now preparing to launch a major fundraising appeal in the New Year to raise £6m for the Leicester Children’s Hospital,” says Debbie.

“This will be combined with the £4.3m already received in pledges from donors including Khun Vichai.”

Walk for Vichai raises £13,700 for Leicester Children's Hospital

On Saturday 27 October 2018, five people were killed in a tragic accident at King Power Stadium in Leicester.

Leicester City Football Club’s beloved chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was one of those whose lives were sadly lost.

In light of these events, two young Leicester City supporters had an idea: bring 5,000 people together to walk in memory of Khun Vichai and everything he meant to the club and to this city, reflecting the 5,000/1 odds that Leicester City overcame to stun the world and become champions of the Premier League during the 2015/16 season.

Public support of this idea was overwhelming and, on Saturday 10 November, thousands of people from across our community gathered together ahead of Leicester City’s match against Burnley FC to walk side-by-side in honour of Khun Vichai, the four other lives that were lost, and everything that the chairman gave to the city of Leicester.

Having been invited to join as the official charity for the event, Leicester Hospitals Charity team members and volunteers joined the crowds at Jubilee Square to hold bucket collections for the Leicester Children’s Hospital Appeal.

Head of Business Development, Debbie Adlerstein, says the charity were privileged to be invited to be a part of such a special event.

“We were honoured when the family behind the Walk for Vichai got in touch to tell us they wanted to help raise money for Leicester Children’s Hospital,” says Debbie. “We were joined by some of our amazing volunteers to collect donations from hundreds of generous Leicester City fans.

“Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was renowned for his generosity, famously donating £2m to Leicester Hospitals Charity to support the Leicester Children’s Hospital and regularly extending special invitations to young hospital patients to watch home matches from his executive box at the King Power Stadium.

“We’d like to honour his memory and pay our tributes to him, his family and the loved ones of every one who we lost in this tragedy.”

Those who took part in the Walk for Vichai raised a remarkable total of almost £3,000 on the day. Foxes fans from across the world have donated a grand total of over £13,700 in memory of their club’s much-loved chairman. We are all deeply touched by this gesture.

Leicester Hospitals Charity would like to say a huge thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers, to BBC Radio Leicester for allowing us to use their building as a base and to Leicester City Football Club for giving us their blessing to accept donations in memory of their late chairman.

Statement On The Tragedy At King Power Stadium

It is with shock and deep sadness that we learn of the tragic loss of life following Saturday’s incident at King Power Stadium.

On behalf of everyone at Leicester Hospitals Charity, our hearts and thoughts are with the family and friends of the five people who have died and with everyone at Leicester City Football Club during this awful time.

We have been very fortunate to have a close and valued relationship with the club who have regularly supported us in our efforts to enhance patient care at Leicester’s Hospitals.

In particular, the consistent generosity of Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his family, who have donated so much to improve children’s services at our hospitals and extended special invitations to patients to his executive box at the King Power Stadium, has been deeply appreciated by our charity.

These acts demonstrate not just how kind and caring the Srivaddhanaprabha family are, but how much they truly love our city. We pay tribute to his selfless efforts on this sad day.

We’d also like to recognise and thank our hospital staff, police, fire services and everyone else who provided emergency support, just as they do every day in our city.

Once again, our thoughts go out to everyone affected by this tragedy. Just as our city came together to celebrate Leicester City’s greatest achievement, we know it will come together once again to mourn this great loss.

Foxes Gift Life-Saving Equipment

Leicester’s Hospitals’ youngest patients will benefit from new, life-saving equipment thanks to the generosity of Leicester City Football Club players.

We were delighted to welcome Foxes captain Wes Morgan and full back Danny Simpson to the Leicester Royal Infirmary to see brand new medical equipment which they and their team mates had helped to buy.

After Leicester Hospitals Charity was kindly invited to attend the Club’s 2017/18 End of Season awards night, the club’s players generously donated £60,000 through the club’s Foxes Foundation for new medical equipment.

The six brand-new bits of kit include scanners for the hospital’s Radiology Department, a portable vascular ultrasound machine, a specialist ventilator and more.

Foxes skipper Wes Morgan said it was ‘fantastic’ to see the equipment he and his team mates helped to purchase for his local hospitals first-hand.

“Being here personally, you can see that it’s real life-impacting equipment and it’s fantastic to see what’s going to be achieved through it,” said Morgan.

“The Club has a brilliant relationship with Leicester Hospitals, which is an important part of our community that we can all relate to. I hope the contribution we’ve made can have a really positive effect on the lives our hospitals save and improve every day.”

Consultant Pediatrican, Dr Sanjiv Nichani, thanked the club’s players for their generous donation.

“We are incredibly grateful for a very generous donation that has allowed us to get six different modern and sophisticated pieces of equipment,” said Dr Nichani.

“It literally helps save lives, because if you’re able to use this level of equipment to intervene early at the right time, then it saves lives.”

Leicester City Football Club has been a major supporter of Leicester Hospitals Charity over many years.

The Foxes Foundation have previously funded improvements to the Children’s Outpatients Department at the LRI, while Club Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has personally donated £2M to the new Children’s Hospital Appeal.

For more information about our projects to improve children’s services at Leicester’s Hospitals – and to donate to our children’s hospital appeal – click here to read more.

Marathon man Rupesh helps make Lilac Room a reality

A new antenatal counselling room at Leicester’s Hospitals has been officially opened by a husband and wife who raised thousands of pounds towards its renovation.

Birstall residents Rupesh and Deepa Masani were invited to view the new space after Rupesh raised over £8,000 towards our Baby Loss Appeal by completing this year’s London Marathon and the Leicester Half Marathon in 2016.

After he and wife Deepa faced the tragic loss of a child during pregnancy, Rupesh realised that patients experiencing antenatal baby loss or difficulties with pregnancy deserved a comforting space to privately grieve and receive support.

As a result of his fundraising efforts, we’re delighted to say that the new Lilac Room in the LRI’s Kensington Building has now been opened and is already providing our patients with the additional space and comfort they deserve.

“Losing a baby is the worst thing a parent can go through,” said Rupesh.

“We remember using the Lilac Room following the loss of our baby, Jai, in 2016. The room has now been completely transformed.

“We cannot take away the pain and sorrow parents will feel following the loss of a child but we sincerely hope that the new room will allow grieving parents to experience a little more comfort at what is an extremely difficult time.”

Donations to Leicester Hospitals Charity’s Baby Loss Appeal have funded six other specialist rooms for families who experience difficulties during pregnancy or stillbirth across Leicester’s Hospitals.

Specialist midwife for bereavement, Jo Dickens, thanked the Masanis and the Leicestershire & Rutland Sands local group for their valuable contributions towards the new room.

“We are so thankful to Rupesh for using his time and energy to raise this money for the Lilac Room and also to the Leicestershire & Rutland Sands local group for their additional support,” says Jo.

“Our Trust is a pilot site for the Sands National Bereavement Care Pathway and it’s really important that we continue to work closely with bereaved parents to develop services and facilities that are sensitive, equitable and parent-centred.”

Leicester Hospitals Charity’s head of business development, Debbie Adlerstein, says the public can still support parents who experience difficulties with the birth of their baby by donating to the Baby Loss Appeal.

“We cannot take away all the stress and pain for those facing difficulties during pregnancy or child birth, but with support from everyday people like Rupesh and Deepa Masani we can offer a better environment that is peaceful and comfortable.”

We cannot take away the pain and sorrow parents will feel following the loss of a child but we sincerely hope that the new room will allow grieving parents to experience a little more comfort at what is an extremely difficult time

— Rupesh Masani, marathon runner and fundraiser

Ladies Tee-Off for Breast Care

Raising money for Leicester’s Hospitals can be more than just cake sales or fancy dress – just ask the ladies of the Greetham Valley Golf Club in Rutland!

When a close family member of Ladies Captain Sue Brand had their life shaken by a breast cancer diagnosis, Sue knew exactly what she wanted to raise funds for during the club’s Ladies Charity Day.

“Like many people, I have lots of friends who have been affected by breast cancer,” says Sue.

“Thankfully, they have all been successfully treated and lead normal lives but I know how important the help that hospital charities offer cancer patients is to their treatment and recovery.”

A fundraising golf day was the perfect way to bring the women of the club together to combine their love of the sport with their appreciation for Leicester’s Hospitals.

Sue rallied members and guests from neighbouring clubs together and when the day itself dawned, 22 teams totalling 88 players lined up to tee-off around the club’s Lakes Course.

“We looked at various schemes to raise money on the day and decided to hold a raffle and ‘Pot of Gold’ draw where the winner takes 50% of the pot value and the other half goes to Leicester Hospitals Charity,” Sue explains.

“We also offered the players refreshments half-way through their round, as Ladies’ Vice Captain Liz Haughton and daughter Ellie worked their magic to transform the staff room into a delightful halfway house offering a large selection of delicious items our ladies had baked.”

After all players had completed the course and retired to the clubhouse, the total funds raised for the day stood at a fantastic £465 – all of which will go to benefit cancer care services at Leicester’s Hospitals.

While all teams played admirably, it was Suzanne, Sally, Grace and Kathleen of Belton Park Golf Course club who took the honours by producing the best score of the day.

But perhaps the happiest person of all was Sue, as the Charity Day had proved a huge success.

“The visiting ladies who played commented that they enjoyed the Lakes course, which was in excellent condition on the day. We’re hoping to welcome them all back again next year!”

If you or your sports club or community group want to band together to raise money for your local hospitals, get in touch with Leicester Hospitals Charity on 0116 258 8709 or email uhl-tr.lhcharitymailbox@nhs.net.

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