Issue #1
Insight Corporate Newsletter
Welcome 2023 was a busy year for the Corporate Partnerships team, with exciting campaigns, projects and events. Here the team share their highlights, then read on to find out more about what’s happening at Alder Hey.
Hayley says: The Gala Ball in October was a really special collaboration project with LFC Foundation, and we were over the moon to welcome so many guests. Hosting in Liverpool Cathedral has been a huge highlight for me!
Ellie says: I love working on the Matalan campaign and last year we celebrated 10 years of our special partnership. Remember the bobble hats and scarves? To mark the anniversary, we invited past campaign ambassadors back and it was brilliant to see how much they had grown!
Becky says: Our events are always my highlight. Our Dragon Boat Festival raised over £40,000 which is a record-breaking year. I am always overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and competitive spirit of every team, and I know 2024 is going to be just as great!
Surgical Neonatal Appeal We are delighted to have met our £3million appeal target for a new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Alder Hey. Launched in 2021, donations to the appeal are set to fund enhancements to our innovative new unit, which will go above and beyond core NHS provision and help to keep families together when they need it most.
for the opening of the unit. Use of new, state-of-the-art equipment will begin in the next 6 to 9 months, enabling staff to test and learn in the run-up to completion. This will include an innovation project, led by a team of clinicians, to finalise best practice for the use of technology within the new unit. Thank you to the many organisations who have supported our Surgical Neonatal Appeal and those who have attended our Dragon Boat Festival, Golf Days and Bag Ladies Afternoon Tea auctions in aid of the appeal. We look forward to sharing further updates as the construction work progresses.
Thanks to our partners
Our family-centred Surgical Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will be the first of its kind in the UK, providing pioneering, world-leading neonatal surgical care, right here in the heart of the North West. Work on the new neonatal unit is well underway. Behind the scenes, we have 23 new neonatal nurses, working across Alder Hey and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, looking at improved ways of working in preparation
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By our side – P&G and B&M Partnership Since 2022, Alder Hey Children’s Charity has partnered with P&G and B&M to create an exclusive campaign where B&M customers can support the charity by purchasing select P&G products. Featured in more than 300 stores, B&M and P&G customers have helped to raise over £150,000 for Alder Hey’s Surgical Neonatal Appeal. As part of the campaign, Frankie, a patient of Alder Hey, was featured on the in-store promotional materials throughout the various campaign activations. Within hours of being born, Frankie required surgery at Alder Hey. Frankie’s mum Jessica describes how the new Neonatal unit would have benefited her and her family. 4
“The new NICU unit would have definitely benefitted us, going to different hospitals can be quite confusing and finding your way around can be quite stressful. If there was one place you could go for all of it, that would be amazing! It would also allow you to get to know the same staff members and start to form a little bond with them, the doctors, nurses, and other staff. When you start having conversations with these people and get familiar with a place, it makes you feel more comfortable. When your baby is away from you, you want to be able to go somewhere where you can see them, you want to feel safe and familiarised instead of going to a new place and being worried about your child, whilst also not knowing the people there.
I couldn’t be prouder of my son and I couldn’t be more grateful for every single staff member at Alder Hey. It’s amazing to see how far he has come. We have had a few setbacks, but we always keep a positive mind.” Support from P&G and B&M through our campaign will go on to support the construction of three parent rooms, allowing for families to stay together when they need it most. If you would like to learn more about partnership opportunities with Alder Hey Children’s Charity, please contact:
ellie.freestone@alderheycharity.org
The Christmas period is a very special time at Alder Hey, and what a way to get in the festive spirit by attending Alder Hey’s annual Christmas Light Switch-on Event. The Charity was pleased to welcome a wide range of supporters and patient ambassadors, as well as their families to our annual reception. Fiona Ashcroft, CEO of Alder Hey Children’s Charity, spoke of our thanks to the various organisations and individuals who have continued to support Alder Hey over the last year. The Christmas event, attended by patients and staff from across the hospital, included performances from St. Paul’s and St. Timothy’s Catholic Infant School Choir, Cascade Music and the amazing Katumba Drumming Group.
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This year Rubi-Mae, her mum Hannah, dad Dave and little sister Lili-Mae were joined by her consultant Senthil Senniappan to switch on the 2023 Christmas lights and officially mark the start of Christmas.
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It is a Joli Oli Christmas!
Special thanks to Max20 and Axis Entrance Systems for their support this year in sponsoring some of our Christmas decorations. If you are interested in supporting our 2024 Christmas decorations, please get in touch:
becky.parsons@alderheycharity.org
Rubi-Mae was born with a rare condition called Septo Optic Dysplasia which in RubiMae’s case means she has very limited vision and uses visual aids. 5
Spotlight: Braithwaite Group
Their donations have supported our Neonatal campaign, and they have paid for a haemodialysis machine, and 2 heated cots for our most vulnerable babies.
We shine a light on the incredible support we receive from one of our industry partners. This issue we say thank you to: Braithwaite Group.
If you’ve spent any time in Alder Hey, you might be lucky enough to have met Barrington, our resident magician. Luke and Josh were blown away by the magic that Barrington brings to Alder Hey the moment he walks through the door, so they have very kindly funded his position with us for the last 3 years.
Braithwaite Group is a local construction company run by Luke and Josh Braithwaite. They’re a multidisciplinary main contractor specialising in newbuild construction and interior fit out projects. Like Alder Hey, their work reaches all over the country, but their heart is in Liverpool. Luke and Josh have supported us in more ways than we can count! They are the annual sponsors of the Dragon Boat Festival and our Corporate Golf Day, events they have helped to grow since 2019. They get behind our fundraising appeals, and Josh ran the London Marathon in 2021 raising over £22,000 – enough to pay for the parent room in our mental health inpatient unit in its entirety. They also generously paid for the Play Zone in the same building, which they dedicated to their mum, Angela Braithwaite. 6
Their most recent support was as Entertainment Sponsor for our Gala Ball which we co-hosted with LFC Foundation – a very generous gift on a very special night.
They have also generously introduced us to some of their contacts who have since become supporters. It’s really lovely that they feel confident to do this, knowing that their contacts will be in safe hands with our team.
Becky looks after the relationship with Braithwaite Group and says: It really is my pleasure working with Luke and Josh. They are incredibly busy, but will always find time for us. It should be my job to inspire our partners, but I come away from our meetings feeling more motivated and inspired than ever! They are family oriented, and simply put, they understand that supporting Alder Hey Children’s Charity, means supporting families going through a really hard time. Braithwaite Group in 3 words:
Family
Heart
Ambition
A big thank you to Braithwaite Group from everyone at Alder Hey Children’s Charity.
Get involved
Dates for the diary!
Feeling inspired? We’ve got loads of ways you and your business can support Alder Hey and we’d love to hear from you. Sponsor a challenge event
Fundraise through challenges!
Dragon Boat Festival 18th May 2024 Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre Corporate Golf Day 18th July 2024 Formby Golf Club Liverpool Cathedral Abseil 21st September 2024 Liverpool Cathedral Interested in getting involved? Email us and someone from the team will be in touch.: corporate@alderheycharity.org
Office/ Workplace fundraising
Take part in our events!
Volunteer for us
#JoinUsJoinIn 7
Welcome to Sunflower House Sunflower House, our brand-new inpatient Mental Health Hub, supports children aged 5-13 with challenging mental health conditions. The 12-bedroom unit, complete with an American diner, classrooms and private therapy spaces has set a new benchmark for residential mental health care. Alder Hey is leading the way in social prescribing of activities to provide young people with access to a range of non-clinical
Sunflower House is an amazing state of the art facility which will support our children with complex needs to become the exceptional and brilliant adults they are destined to be. Lisa Cooper, Director of Community & Mental Health Services.
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support. In the warmer months, we will offer a diverse range of programmes and activities both in the unit, and across the healthcare campus, ensuring that children have the best possible start in life to manage their own health and well-being positively.
young people, and we’re excited that this summer, they will have the chance to take part in pottery and photography sessions. The arrival of a new ‘dome’ called Base Camp will allow our outside art activities to continue through the winter months.
The therapy garden within Sunflower House will provide children with access to outdoor space throughout the summer where they can learn, relax, play, and even lead on their own gardening projects. Our Forest School, Fishing classes, and NatureWell programmes provide outdoor education-based activities and exposure to nature, enabling children to increase confidence, communication and emotional skills, whilst also developing parent-child relationships. Arts and creativity are also important models of therapy for our
Our ambition and focus are to support as many young patients as we can from our health care campus. Our work with external partners to facilitate rich experiences means young people in our care have opportunities, life chances and the potential to lead safe and happy lives. Thank you to our partners such as Matalan, Braithwaite Group, Savills UK and Mason Advisory who supported our 7in10 Children’s Mental Health Appeal.
Supporting Patients' Mental Health Greg Johnson is Managing Director of Warwick Development Northwest and is one of Alder Hey Charity’s valued Business Ambassadors, a voluntary role for members of the business community. Following a visit to Alder Hey, Greg was keen to support something close to his heart. During his visit he’d heard about a funding opportunity to improve access to support for children treated at Alder Hey whose emotional wellbeing/mental health has been impacted through their experience of chronic illness or injury. Mental health difficulties are three times higher in this group than in a community population and can present in a number of ways. This might be low mood or anxiety related to diagnosis of a condition, managing an uncertain future, living with a visible or invisible difference, managing and adhering to treatment, or adjusting to physical of cognitive difficulties. Significant increases in referral numbers over the past couple of years, have led to a long waiting list developing which means
some children and young people could be waiting up to 18 months for support. These young people and their families desperately need to access to this support sooner. It is difficult for the team to access core NHS funding for the extent of the support that’s needed, and whilst that’s beginning to change, the team need to address the waiting time for these children and young people as soon as possible. Through Warwick Development, over £18,000 has been donated to help the Trust Clinical Health Psychology team in improving this access and support. The donation will help to fund the Clinical Psychologist who will support two new Child and Young Person Wellbeing Practitioner roles within the Clinical Health Psychology team. These practitioners will provide input in a timely manner to lower intensity cases, enabling Clinical Psychologists to look after those who have a higher level of need. These additional roles will make a significant difference to children and young people and their families. 9
Celebrating 10 years in Partnership with In 2023 we were able to celebrate the incredible milestone of working in partnership with Matalan for 10 years. In 2014, Matalan pledged a five-year fundraising campaign to raise funds for Alder Hey’s new Research and Innovation Centre. To kick off this incredible partnership we saw the arrival of the Alphabet Scarves, and the following year a celebrityled campaign, with ‘Bobble vs Beanie’. It was in 2016 we saw the beginning of the famous Matalan x Alder Hey PJs with our campaign #GetYourStripes. The PJs instantly became a firm favourite with families across the UK, 10
Fiona Ashcroft, CEO of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Charity said;
ultimately creating the eagerly anticipated ‘Matalan & Alder Hey Pyjama Campaign’. Over the years, many teams from across the Matalan have also fundraised to support Alder Hey, raising an incredible £150,000! We were incredibly pleased to announce in November that over the ten years, the total raised by this partnership stands at just over £ 4.4 million! Support from Matalan has been wide-ranging with over £2.4 million going towards Research and Innovation projects. Matalan have also supported the Charity with their recent fundraising appeals including our Surgical Neonatal Appeal and were also the single largest donor for our 7in10 Children’s Mental Health Appeal.
In celebration of all the incredible support received over the years, we held a PJ Day at Alder Hey. The day consisted of ward-based activities, including crafting, goody bags and celebration cupcakes. Matalan staff held a ‘Design your dream PJs’ competition for patients in the main atrium, where the winning designer won a shopping voucher for Matalan. The day also saw the giving away of previous PJs and other campaign-related items to staff, patients, and families.
Through their annual campaigns, Matalan and their customers have made a huge difference in the lives of children and young people who have been cared for at Alder Hey. As a result, Matalan has funded a huge range of activities and projects designed to enhance and improve the lives of our inspiring young patients. A huge thanks to Matalan customers who have purchased the PJs over the last ten years in support of Alder Hey. Thanks are due also to Matalan staff, who have supported us through their own amazing fundraising! Together we have raised over £4.4m for Alder Hey and now we can’t wait to see what next year will bring! Thank you to everyone at Matalan for their incredible support of Alder Hey over the last 10 years!
If you would like to learn more about partnership opportunities with Alder Hey Children’s Charity, please contact:
ellie.freestone@alderheycharity.org
Partnership in numbers
TWO CUSTOMERDESIGNED PJS
10
£2.4 MILLION
£150K
TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AND INNOVATION AS WELL AS RESEARCH RELATED PROJECTS
RAISED BY STAFF
YEARS PA
21 C H A R I T Y AMBASSADORS
I
P
I
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ONE GUINNESS WORLD RECORD
£4. 4+
RTNERSH
M I L L I O N R A I S E D
FEATURED IN 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CAMPAIGN
8 I N C R E D I B L E PJ C A M PA I G N S 2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
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Meet a Business Ambassador! Our Business Ambassadors represent a variety of sectors. They’re well connected in the business community, successful in what they do and Alder Hey holds a special place in their hearts for many different reasons. They offer valuable support and guidance to the team, are involved in ideas sessions to help drive us forward and have introduced us to many new contacts. This issue, we’d like you to meet our ambassador Clare Brookfield. Clare works at Professional Liverpool as Member Relations Manager. She’s been a friend of the charity since 2017 and is seriously well connected across the Liverpool City Region and beyond. What’s your favourite thing about your job? I enjoy meeting new people and building new relationships. What’s your background? My background is predominantly banking. I worked at RBS for 11 years and then moved to Handelsbanken for 3 years. Through that time, I had always networked and that led me to my current role. 12
Are there any charity partnerships that have caught your eye? Within Professional Liverpool we work with many charities and for me I always want to give each charity an opportunity to raise their profile so I am a big advocate about sharing as much news about our charities as we can. What do you think sets Alder Hey apart? I think Alder Hey really gets what a child would want to happen when they are in hospital. Nobody likes hospitals but Alder Hey really do bring the “fun” to a potentially traumatic time for both the child and their family. It is such a special place. What do you enjoy about being a Business Ambassador? I am proud to be a Business Ambassador and it gives me great pride when I talk to fellow professionals about the amazing work the hospital continues to provide. You must meet a lot of people, are you a tea or coffee person? I’m a black tea girl
Clare Brookfield
What 3 words come to mind when you think of Alder Hey? Smiles, laughter and PJ’s! Where would you like to see Alder Hey Charity in the future? I would like to see AH gain a more national focus. It is so loved around the LCR region but it helps children all across the UK and we need to get the news out past Birmingham about how amazing this place is. Based on your role working with companies across the region, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Always be yourself. People “buy” off people so always be your authentic self and that is how I have built my profile over the years. Next issue, you’ll meet Greg from Warwick Developments.
A year in numbers
Over 4,000 oncology admissions in 2022 Our Snowdrop Team offered support to over
Over
2,200 of the young
people who needed us each week were teenagers
Around 5,000
virtual appointments attended each month
en r ld
Campus £3,000,000
“Magic” (Patient Welfare) £2,238,000
Research & Innovation £370,000
Medical Equipment £340,000
ch i
7,08 7
How the money we raised in 21/22 was divided across areas of need at our hospital
7,087
850 people
from across the North West affected by the death of a child
Many children living with conditions with no known cure stayed with us, including 53 with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy
Over 11,000 brave young patients from outside Liverpool needed our expert care each month
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A night we’ll Never Forget! In October 2023, Alder Hey Children’s charity and LFC Foundation came together to host one amazing evening filled with special guests, appearances, and unforgettable entertainment. With the backdrop of the iconic Liverpool Cathedral, we welcomed over 500 guests along the red carpet to a champagne reception. LFC legends were in attendance and guests got the chance to get up close and personal with trophies such as the Premier League, the Champions League and the FA Cup. Our evening was hosted by Becky David and Peter McDowall and following a spectacular three course dinner and live auction. Money raised on the evening was split between both charities for projects focussed on giving children and young people the best start in life. The evening concluded with sensational entertainment. Could it be magic? Even better! Gary Barlow played us out with all the big hits from Take That past and present. A performance that really did shine. 14
The Gala Ball in 2023 was a spectacular event and a huge highlight for Alder Hey Children’s Charity. We are incredibly proud of the impact we have in the Liverpool community and further afield, and we were overwhelmed by the love and support we saw for both charities on the evening.
A BIG thank you to all of our partners who attended, and a special thank you to our sponsors: Co-headline Sponsors
Entertainment Sponsor
Official Event Sponsors
Fiona Ashcroft, CEO of Alder Hey Children’s Charity Champagne Reception Sponsor
If you would be interested in future sponsorship opportunities, please email the team:
You can see official photographs on our online photo album or scan the QR code.
corporate@alderheycharity.org 15
Thank You We simply could not do what we do without YOU! Thank you to everyone who has supported us and continues to champion Alder Hey. Together we are making a real difference to the children and families Alder Hey supports.
H AY L E Y T H O M A S He a d of Cor p or ate Pa r t n e r sh i p s hayle y.thom as @ ald er h e y c h a r i t y. o rg
ELLIE FREESTONE Co r p o rat e Part ners hi ps Manag er e l l i e . f re es t one@ al derhey chari t y. org
B E C K Y PA R S O N S Corporat e Part ners hi ps Fundraiser beck y. pars ons @ al derhey c harity.o rg
© Copyright 2024 Alder Hey Children’s Charity. Registered Charity Number 1160661 Alder Hey Children’s Charity, Eaton Road, Liverpool, L12 2AP
www.alderheycharity.org