Your fundraising donations are enabling additional space and support for vulnerable patients.
Having joined forces with colleagues from Sensor City, KQ Liverpool, Sciontec Liverpool and Bruntwood SciTech at the start of the second national lockdown, we have been busy running, cycling, rowing and walking our way towards completing a distance of 1,000 miles within 50 days for charity.
The two KQ Liverpool based organisations benefiting from our combined fundraising activity are The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity and the Huntington’s Disease Association, who undertake critical research, offer valuable patient support and deliver world leading treatments.
Both charities are delighted with the level of personal donations and corporate sponsorship that our challenge has received to date and have shared with us exactly how the money raised will be spent.
CREATION OF OUTDOOR SPACE AT THE CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER CENTRE, LIVERPOOL
Danielle Carney, Corporate Partnerships Manager at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, explains what our 1,000 miles in 50 days funding will be put towards.
The funding received from this amazing challenge will be contributed towards creating welcoming garden terraces and a Winter Garden for our high risk, vulnerable cancer patients, who are receiving treatment at our newly opened specialist cancer hospital in the centre of Liverpool.
The hospital has been specially designed to include areas that enhance wellbeing, healing and recovery through a close connection to nature and a sense of light and space, despite its city-centre location. The Winter Garden situated on the lowest floor, and accessible from the Radiotherapy department, will provide an invaluable outside space for patients and their families who spend many weeks attending daily for their treatment.
Having these outdoor spaces available to our patients will have a huge impact, helping them to improve their mental well-being whilst being in our care. The space will also provide staff with the opportunity for rest and recovery, many of whom are working longer shifts at present to help against COVID-19.
The design of the gardens will not only provide seasonal stimulation of an outdoor environment, but also spaces for relaxation and places to retreat in an environment where patients can often feel anxious, stressed and overwhelmed. These areas will facilitate quiet reflection and contemplation which are invaluable given the nature of our services. When patients’ health and wellbeing allow, they may even become involved in gardening activities.
From level 03 to 07, each level steps back from the one beneath, which provides the opportunity to create garden roof terraces, accessible from our inpatient wards and Chemotherapy department. Terraces will form part of the ‘healing landscape’ ethos, offering patients and staff outdoor space, and spectacular views across the city.
Advisory Services support at the Huntington’s Disease Association, Liverpool
Joanne Dobbie, Head of Fundraising at the Huntington’s Disease Association, explains how their advisory services will benefit from our 1,000 miles in 50 days challenge.
The Huntington’s Disease Association are at the frontline of supporting people living with Huntington’s disease across England and Wales. Our advisory service provides information, support and advice to people living with Huntington’s disease, as well as the many health and social care professionals who work to support them.
Our advisors are based in local communities offering one-to-one support to many people living with this life-limiting disease. Anyone can access our support free of charge in different ways including:
• Telephone and email support
• Digital support including webinars, website and online meetings
• In person support (when appropriate)
People affected by Huntington’s disease often cite isolation and loneliness as key concerns for them when it comes to living with the disease, something we as a society are beginning to understand through our own social-distancing and self-isolating through these times.
In addition, carers of people with Huntington’s are understandably anxious during this time about their own health (many of whom may be at risk of inheriting the Huntington’s gene themselves) and the devastating impact this will have on those they are caring for and how they will manage. Our priority has been to continue to provide support to anyone who needs it.
The support of staff at Liverpool Science Park, and their ‘1,000 miles in 50 days’ challenge Team colleagues, will help us to continue our work supporting some of the most vulnerable people in society. We are all hugely grateful for your donations.
On behalf of both charities and our challenge Team, we would like to say a sincere thank you for all of your donations. It will not only help support activities that have been adversely affected by Covid-19 to continue, but enable exciting, new initiatives to come to fruition, which will benefit local people’s lives for years to come.
