Tag: Leicester Royal Infirmary

Leicester Hospitals Charity is delighted to announce that its flagship corporate fundraising challenge, Boss Break Out, has once again smashed expectations, raising more than £30,500 in support of the Parent Facilities Appeal in just a few hours.

The third annual event, held on Wednesday 12 November was made possible by the venue partner Davidsons Homes, who generously allowed the Charity the use of one of their show home in Thurmaston.

The event saw nine of Leicester’s leading business figures “locked away” and tasked with raising at least £1,000 each to earn the right to leave. Participants stepped out of their comfort zones to leverage their networks, rally their teams, and call in favours to generate vital funds that will help improve accommodation and facilities for parents who need to stay close to their children while they receive hospital care.

The funds raised will directly support the Parent Facilities Appeal, which aims to create comfortable, welcoming spaces for parents who spend long periods in hospital alongside their children. Families like Michelle’s, whose daughter Evie spent 46 days at the Children’s Intensive Care Unit at Leicester’s Hospital, know first-hand how vital it is for parents to remain close by during such difficult times. Her experience highlights the urgent need for better, more private facilities, ensuring parents can stay near their children without added stress or discomfort.

This year’s record-breaking participants were:

  • Minesh Solanki, Franchise Partner and Co-Founder of Commture 365
  • Dav Mahet, Managing Director of TML Solicitors
  • Bhumika Parmar, Founder and Director of BP Legal
  • Dean Cross, Centre Manager of Haymarket Shopping Centre
  • Stacey Wragg, Managing Director of Voyager Immersive
  • Nadia Faki, Partner from Nelsons Solicitors
  • Rajee Pattni, Franchise Owner and Director of Elite Printing, Alita Creative and InXpress Logistics
  • Jake Karia, Founder and CEO of Food Attraction and Jake & Nayns
  • Naynesh Karia, Operations Director from Food Attraction and Jake & Nayns

 

Leicester Hospitals Charity Team with the participants of Boss Break Out 2025
Leicester Hospitals Charity Team with the participants of Boss Break Out 2025

Among the standout fundraisers on the day was Minesh Solanki, Franchise Partner and Co-Founder of Commture 365 (fourth from right), who raised over £16,000, setting a new record for the event.

“I’m overwhelmed by the generosity and support I received,” said Minesh Solanki. “By working closely with my network, contacts, family, and friends, we were able to achieve something truly special. It shows the power of giving when people come together for a cause that matters, and I’m proud to have played a part in helping families stay close to their children during difficult times.”

Sunita Patel, Head of Leicester Hospitals Charity, praised the collective effort:

“Boss Break Out has become a highlight of our fundraising calendar. This year’s event has raised a record-breaking total, and it couldn’t come at a more important time. Families with critically ill children in our hospitals deserve better spaces to rest and stay close to their loved ones. Leicester’s business leaders have stepped up in an extraordinary way, and we’re incredibly grateful for their dedication and generosity. They were supported by an incredibly generous network of friends, family and colleagues, which is a testament to Leicester’s supportive business community.”

For more information on the appeal and to read Michelle’s full story click here.

You can view the amount raised by each participant by clicking here.

L to R Sunita Patel, Head of Charity at Leicester Hospitals Charity, with Dav Mahet and Asiya Parekh, Corporate Fundraising Officer at Leicester Hospitals Charity
L to R Sunita Patel, Head of Charity at Leicester Hospitals Charity, with Dav Mahet and Asiya Parekh, Corporate Fundraising Officer at Leicester Hospitals Charity

Leicester-based Ramadan Radio has joined forces with Leicester Hospitals Charity and was once again on air live from Wednesday, 22nd March 2023. The station is broadcasting for the duration of the holy month of Ramadan.

Ramadan Radio Leicester aims to provide a platform for Muslims in Leicester and the wider community to come together and celebrate the holy month of Ramadan. The station will feature a range of programs including discussions, interviews, and recitations of the Holy Quran, as well as playing a mix of traditional and contemporary Islamic nasheeds.

In partnership with Leicester Hospitals Charity, the station will also be raising awareness about how the Charity supports Leicester’s Hospitals and the healthcare services available to the community. Through on-air appeals and fundraising events, Ramadan Radio Leicester hopes to raise awareness and much-needed funds for the Charity’s latest appeal focusing on the spiritual care of patients, their families and staff at Leicester’s Hospitals.

Lisa Davies, Director of Leicester Hospitals Charity said: “I’m so proud to have this opportunity to work once again with Ramadan Radio during the holy month of Ramadan. One of our team fundraisers – Asiya Parekh will be on the radio in the coming weeks.  Asiya will be discussing the improvements we’re looking to make to the current spaces at Leicester Royal Infirmary to give people a place of sanctuary during their toughest times.”

Ramadan Radio Leicester is a community-led initiative, made possible by the dedication and hard work of volunteers from across the city. The station is committed to promoting community cohesion, fostering dialogue and understanding, and providing a space for reflection and contemplation during the holy month of Ramadan.

Commenting on the launch, the licensee of Ramadan Radio Leicester Zed Sheikh said: “We are thrilled to be launching Ramadan Radio Leicester in partnership with Leicester Hospitals Charity. We believe that this station will be a valuable addition to the city’s cultural and religious landscape, providing a platform for Muslims and non-Muslims alike to come together and celebrate the holy month of Ramadan. We are also delighted to be working with Leicester Hospital Charity to support their important work improving healthcare services in our local community.”

Ramadan Radio Leicester will be available to listen to online and via the airwaves, apps and streaming devices.

You can find more on YouTube.

You can also give a gift today just follow the links below:

Team page – www.justgiving.com/team/RamadanRadio2023

Donations –  www.justgiving.com/page/RamadanRadio2023

Leicester City Football Club supporters and the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation have helped to transform a key inpatient unit at the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

A range of refurbishments including new furniture, wall art, televisions for patients in isolation and a new staff refreshment area have been provided for the Kinmonth Unit following a £162,000 donation from the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation to Leicester Hospitals Charity.

The donation comes after thousands of Leicester City season ticket holders chose to donate a proportion of the rebate offered to them by the club after the 2019-20 Premier League season was suspended due to COVID-19.

The Kinmonth Unit admits patients who require major surgeries or are being treated for complex diagnoses. Kinmouth Unit Sister Lora Petrova said her team would be “forever grateful” to the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation, Leicester City Football Club and its supporters for their support.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to the Leicester City Football Club and their supporters and fans for this kind donation to our Kinmonth Unit,” said Lora.

“It’s helped us to make it a nicer and calmer environment for our patients and their families during their stay on our unit when they are experiencing hard times. My team and I greatly appreciate Leicester City’s help and will be forever grateful for what you have done.”

Leicester City Football Club Chief Executive, Susan Whelan, thanks the club’s supporters for their “extraordinary” generosity.

“The generosity shown by our incredible supporters to help LRI in their efforts to refurbish the Kinmonth Unit was extraordinary, and I’d like to thank them for their kind donations,” said Susan.

“The facility is such an asset to the hospital, and we hope the funds donated by our fans will help to improve patient experience and transform the lives of staff and patients.”

Leicester Hospitals Charity’s Director, Lisa Davies, said the charity is honoured to have received the generous donation.

“We are deeply grateful to the VS Foundation and the Leicester City Football Club and fans for helping this much-needed refurbishment of the Kinmouth Unit to happen. Patients facing long hospital stays and the staff supporting them will really value the improved hospital environment, especially during the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Lisa.

A Physician Associate Student who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer as a teen ten years ago is abseiling down the same hospital she credits with saving her life to raise money for a new children’s hospital in Leicester.

Paris Tompkins, 24, a Physician Associate Student at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, is abseiling down the site’s Windsor Building to raise money for the Leicester Children’s Hospital Appeal to help secure a new state-of-the-art dedicated children’s hospital for the East Midlands.

Paris, who received treatment as an outpatient at the LRI after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 14, says it’s important for both her and her family to support the children’s hospital that she is proud to now be working in.

“This year marks ten years since I was first diagnosed,” says Paris. ”As a family, we all thought we should try and raise a bit of money to recognise that.”

Paris was diagnosed August 2010 after months of tests at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, before undergoing surgery followed by months of further treatment between hospitals in London and Leicester.

“This time ten years ago, I would’ve been going through all the tests and then coming back here to the LRI and at Children’s Outpatients every week,” Paris explains.

“At 15, you obviously have other priorities on your mind than cancer. But it obviously it had a major impact on my family. They understood what it meant for my future.”

Paris says her experience in hospital and her positive impression of the clinical staff had a profound impact on her choosing to pursue a medical career of her own.

“From every nurse to every doctor I met, they made sure that my family and I were always well informed about everything that was happening,” she says. “They made sure things were turned around quickly – it was just a week between my diagnosis and my surgery.

“I always wanted to be part of the NHS, but having been in hospital for so long and having gone through the system as a patient, it made me realise that I wanted to work here in the future. I’m working with consultants now who used to be my consultant. So it’s nice to evolve into that role. It’s also nice to know that if I go to talk to a parent of a patient on the children’s ward, I know what it’s like.”

With the appeal helping to create the first dedicated children’s hospital in the East Midlands, Paris is determined to help bring a state-of-the-art new facility to Leicester.

“I know what this hospital was like a decade ago. I’ve seen over ten years how it’s improved a lot, but having everything together under one roof would make it easier for families. It would take the pressure off from having to travel to different hospitals. I know how hard that was for me.

“You look at Birmingham Children’s Hospital – everyone knows it. It’s a flagship hospital. I think for us to have one here in Leicester would help so much. Everyone knows someone who is going through the hospital system, who’s had contact with the Children’s Hospital. If your child ever needed it, you’d want them to get the best possible care. For us all to be able to have that on our front door is a big motivator.”

Paris is among over 100 people who will be scaling 100ft down the side of the Windsor Building of the Leicester Royal Infirmary on the weekend of 28th-29th March to raise money for the Leicester Children’s Hospital Appeal.

A brave couple are taking on a 100ft abseil down the side of the same hospital that they credit with saving their young daughter’s life.

Grateful parents Nerice & Jason Burrows of Great Doddington in Northamptonshire are taking on the challenge on Saturday 28 March after their two-and-a-half year old daughter Lily received extensive treatment for respiratory and stomach problems at the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Mum Nerice (37), says she and husband Jason (35) are “eternally grateful” to Leicester’s Hospitals for the treatment and care they have given to Lily throughout her short life so far.

“We can’t thank Leicester’s Hospitals enough for how they saved our baby girl and also supported us as family,” says Nerice.

“We thought this was the perfect way to raise some money as we are abseiling at the place we spent so much of our life and who we are eternally grateful to.”

Born at 32 weeks, Lily was transferred from Kettering Hospital to the Leicester Royal Infirmary at three months old with severe breathing difficulties. After an extended stay in intensive care and then the high-dependency ward, Lily was diagnosed with ‘Pierre Robin Sequence’, meaning her jaw had not grown as it should and was obstructing her airway.

“Lily is our hero and such a fighter. She battled so much in her first 15 months in hospital and continues to do so,” says Nerice.

“We were told that it could have been a ‘catastrophic brain injury’. So to be told that it could actually be understood, managed and could even possibly get better was a relief.”

Lily underwent an operation at just a year old to help improve her condition, but has needed regular and lengthy stays in hospital.

Nerice says she and Jason opted to have Lily admitted to the Leicester Royal Infirmary due to the standard of care they provided her.

“To this day Lily still has extra needs and a few too many hospital admissions for our liking, but we instantly feel safe at this hospital,” Nerice says.

“We’ve spent most of our time on Ward 10 and they have become our family. We will always have a special place in our hearts for each and every one of them and can never thank them enough. From the Emergency Department to Intensive Care they all know our Lily and we know the care and support we will receive is outstanding.”

When Nerice & Jason heard about the Leicester Children’s Hospital Appeal’s Big Abseil event, they decided it was the perfect way to help give something back to the hospital that had come to mean so much to them.

“We wanted to do something to help raise some much needed funds for the new Leicester Children’s Hospital,” explains Nerice.

“This will not only enhance what they already have, but also give us a children’s hospital in our region that can continue to help children like Lily who need that extra care.”

The Burrows are among 70 people who will be scaling 100ft down the side of the Windsor Building of the Leicester Royal Infirmary on Saturday 28 March to raise money for the Leicester Children’s Hospital Appeal.

The appeal aims to raise £7.5million to help give the East Midlands its first dedicated, single-site children’s hospital and make children’s services more effective and efficient for patients, their families as well as hospital staff.

Leicester Hospitals Charity is calling on people across Leicester, Leicestershire, Rutland and the wider East Midlands to donate to and show their support for the Leicester Children’s Hospital Appeal.

Anyone wanting to contribute towards making the Leicester Children’s Hospital Appeal a success can visit DoThemProud.com to donate, sign up as a supporter or learn more about the appeal, or can follow the appeal on Facebook at FB.me/DoThemProud and help spread the word on social media using #DoThemProud.

A brand-new Complementary Therapy Room for young people receiving hospital treatment for cancer was opened today by Leicester Tigers players at the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Tigers captain Tom Youngs, hooker Ross McMillan and number 8s Sione Kalamafoni and Fred Tuilagi swung by the Childrens & Young People’s Cancer Ward during a visit to the Royal Infirmary to officially open the new room.

The first of its kind for Leicester’s Hospitals, the new Complementary Therapy Room next to Ward 27 will provide young patients fighting cancer a special environment where they can relax and receive complementary therapy such as hairdressing, beauty treatments and wig fittings.

Funded jointly by Leicester Hospitals Charity and The Robbie Anderson Cancer Trust (RACT), a significant amount of the donated funds were raised during the annual ‘Robbie’s Rugby Festival’.

In addition to the room being paid entirely through charitable donations, Oncology Nurse Yvonne Sarroukh has also received formal training to provide a variety of complementary therapies to patients and will spend one day a week offering these services to patients which will be funded entirely by Leicester Hospitals Charity.

Ward Sister of Ward 27, Jo Maconnachie, says the new room will go a long way to benefit young patients with cancer, as well as their loved ones.

“We are so pleased to officially open the new Complementary Therapy Room on Ward 27,” says Jo.

“Our patients will greatly benefit from having this facility and service available for both their physical and mental health. We have lots of things planned for the room and hoping to offer a variety of treatments that will enrich the experience of both patients and parents.

“Special thanks must go to Kevin and Fiona Anderson who have fundraised for this room and many other things for Ward 27 in memory of their son Robbie. I’d also like to thank Yvonne, one of our oncology staff nurses, who has completed a massage diploma to be able to offer this complementary service to our patients.”

The opening of the new Complementary Therapy Room is a proud moment for Leicester Hospitals Charity, says our Director, Lisa Davies.

“We’re delighted to be able to support the young patients at Leicester’s Hospitals by helping to fund this fantastic new room and service,” says Lisa.

“This enhancement to patient treatment is exactly in keeping with our mission as a charity to help provide improvements to our hospitals above and beyond with the NHS already provides.”

RACT’s Kevin Anderson says his late son Robbie, who set up the trust at age 13 just months before his death from a rare form of cancer in 2006, would have been very happy to help make the new Complementary Therapy Room a reality.

“This new room will be a haven where young people undergoing treatment for cancer and often long stays in hospital will be able to relax, unwind, have fun and feel very special,” says Kevin.

“Its aim is to offer young people fighting cancer an opportunity to relax in a non-hospital environment that is calm and soothing and allow them to feel special. For those young people receiving treatment for cancer, it will be like stepping into an upmarket spa retreat. In addition, there will even be sensory equipment for younger children on the ward to enjoy.”

Local corporate clothing supplier Dimensions have shown their support for the newborns of Leicestershire and their parents after a generous donation to the Maternity Ward at the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

As part of Dimensions’ charitable efforts to support special care baby units across the Midlands, maternity staff at Leicester’s Hospitals gratefully accepted a donation of £1,782.33 from the company.

Dimensions Facilities Manager, Wendy Cooper, says the Dimensions team wanted to show their support for the maternity staff who provide vital special care for the region’s newest lives.

“We wish the team at Leicester Children’s Hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit all the very best and give a big thumbs up for the work they do to ensure the children and their families have the essential care they need at this early stage of life,” says Wendy.

“We raised almost £28,000 last year and were pleased to be able to give over £5,300 of that to the three special care baby units in the Derby, Nottingham and Leicestershire regions.

“The staff at Dimensions make fund raising a priority. As we say – we put the ‘fun’ into fundraising! Every month we have dress down days, and we also have month-long charity events when each floor has a month dedicated to raising as much money as possible.

“We generally tend to eat a lot of cake and a lot of samosas and pizza! We have raffles, quizzes, staff washing each other’s cars, auctions of high-end items that our suppliers and clients have donated and much much more.”

Midwifery Matron, Joan Morrissey, explains what the team will be putting the donated money towards.

“We had 48 midwives trained on an Aromatherapy course, and this donation will allow us to buy essential oils for them to use, which costs £850 a year,” explains Joan.

“The Aaomatherapy will be used in labour, allowing everyone to keep calm and tranquil during what can be a stressful time. With over 10,000 births across Leicestershire, we need to utlilise this alternative therapy to offer women choices.”

For more information about how your business could help support patients at Leicester’s Hospitals, get in touch with our friendly charity team on 0116 258 8709 or email uhl-tr.lhcharitymailbox@nhs.net.

Sign up for our newsletter

Get the latest news, events and offers

This will close in 0 seconds