Charity news
Autumn 2020
NHS HEROES WALKERBOT APPEAL DIGITAL FITNESS CLASSES
To donate online Visit BHCharity.org or visit our Charity Office in the main entrance of the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. Charity number 1057366
Welcome! Debbie Anderson, Head of Fundraising
300K STEP CHALLENGE Take on the 300k Step Challenge to help us raise £365,000 to buy a fantastic Walkerbot to help patients relearn to walk. Your challenge is to walk 10,000 steps every day for 30 days. Why not use a smart phone or watch to easily track your daily progress.
It has been truly wonderful to see our communities coming together to support our staff and patients, especially during these past few months.
Whether that involves taking the dog for a walk, doing the cleaning around the house or walking to the shops - every step counts!
In March we asked for your help to support our amazing NHS Heroes and we have been absolutely blown away by your response. To date we have received over £155k in donations!
It’s free to take part, but we would love for all our challengers to fundraise a minimum of £30 each and please stick to social distancing whilst taking part.
We are so grateful to every incredible individual across the area for finding creative ways to fundraise for us. From walking dinosaurs and plant swap shops, to head shaves and virtual rowing, running and cycling challenges we’ve never seen such a variety of fundraisers! Thanks to your generosity and hard work, we were able to purchase extra items to support our staff during this time and into the future, including nonperishable snacks during their shifts and access to psychologists to promote positive mental health. We are extremely lucky to have such wonderful staff and are forever grateful for all their hard work throughout the year. We hope to see our community continue to help us support our staff as we head in to autumn and winter. Please visit our website and check our social media channels for the latest news on events and challenges you can take part in to support your NHS heroes. Thank you.
Over 720 people are admitted to our hospital each year with stroke
75% of these have lower limb weakness
The brain can adapt and people can relearn to walk through repetition and practice
OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT You can make a donation on our website, over the phone or in our Charity Office. Why not make us your company’s Charity of the Year or encourage your local community group, such as your golf club or rotary club, to fundraise for us in your own way.
Donate and sign up at
BHCharity.org/walkerbot
Our Corporate Community We have seen incredible generosity from many businesses, clubs, community groups, organisations and companies. Here are some of the ways we have been supported over the past few months.
NHS Heroes Appeal On the 19 March 2020 the Royal Bournemouth Hospital confirmed it was treating its first coronavirus patient. To provide immediate practical and emotional support to our hospital staff we launched our NHS Heroes appeal. You very kindly answered that call and donated to the appeal. Here are some of the ways we were able to support our staff over the last few months thanks to your help. We provided: • Extra psychological support for staff • 546 reusable whiteboards to help our staff communicate with patients whilst wearing PPE • Thousands of wellbeing packs which
have also been sent to staff isolating away from home who wanted to protect their loved ones • Three months of yoga and relaxation classes • Food and drink provided in wellbeing areas and staff rooms South Coast Makers Market, based in Bournemouth, raised £3,456.40 to help fund a paediatric resuscitation trolley for Bournemouth Hospital’s Emergency Department.
Freya one of the onsite mental health nurses
Jo, Adam and Kat, owners of South Coast Makers Market, launched an eBay-style online auction in April instead of running their market due to coronavirus restrictions.
Joe from Discover Church ran 185km dressed as Buzz Lightyear, raising over £2,500 to create 371 wellbeing packs. The packs contained moisturiser, shampoo and conditioner, tea and coffee, and lots more! Buzz was able to come into the hospital to see the packs being widely distributed. They were handed out to various departments including sexual health, surgical, cancer care and our stroke unit.
At Bournemouth Hospital Charity we love to build relationships with businesses, both locally and globally. If you would like to find out more about how your business or community group can get involved and partner with us, do not hesitate to contact Fundraising Manager, Karen Smith, by emailing karen.smith2@rbch.nhs.uk. Wellbeing packs sent to
Housekeeping team receiving care packages
Digital fitness classes for patients 2020 has been a year for change. But throughout these uncertain times, a dedicated team of local fitness instructors worked with Bournemouth Hospital Charity to find a way to continue to deliver their fun fitness sessions to patients living with cancer. Technology came to the rescue to help Carla and Angie continue to host their wellbeing classes for patients diagnosed with cancer through video calling. These free, hour long classes are held every Thursday and Tuesday, and see men and women of all ages and at different stages in their treatments taking part. Some participants have been attending the sessions for years, some drop in and out depending on their treatment
and lifestyle, and others decide to leave if the time feels right, though they are able to continue for as long as they wish. The classes are usually held at The Village Gym opposite the hospital and both the instructor and studio fees are covered by the Charity. It’s important that patients not only have time to focus on their treatments, but also their mental wellbeing and spend time doing fun activities. Carla runs the Thursday Gentle Aerobics class. She said: The group is wonderful; their humour and energy never fail to amaze me, I honestly feel so lucky to be their instructor. ‘They are very close and before lockdown they would often stay behind after class for a coffee (and maybe cake!) at the cafe downstairs in The Village. Aside from the obvious physical benefits
of gentle exercise, it's the mental wellbeing that is so important. ‘The group can look to one another for advice and I was once really pleased when a newcomer said to me after class that she really enjoyed it as she felt like a normal human being in class. They can wear whatever they feel comfortable in and don't have to pretend to be feeling well if that's not the case.
the floor or seated if preferred. ‘Somehow we've ended up having a theme each week for the aerobics sessions - we’ve had ABBA, rainbows, Eurovision, flowers, 80's, and lots more, and the music and routines change depending on the theme.’ Well done Carla and Angie - you’re doing an amazing job!
If you or someone you know is undergoing cancer treatment ‘There is such a variety of fitness or has recently completed their levels, ages, physical abilities and treatment and would like to individual treatments taking part participate please get in touch with at one time that the classes are our charity office and we would be generally low impact and at a level happy to help point you in the right that everyone can benefit from direction. to some degree. There’s usually If you would like to support these about half an hour of cardio work amazing fitness classes for cancer moving to music, followed by patients just £20 will pay for 1 x 1 upper and lower body toning (light hour session a week. Donate online weights optional), and then to finish at BHCharity.org/donate we do stretches and relaxation on
Call us on 0300 019 4060
BHCharity.org
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Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Castle Lane East, Bournemouth, BH7 7DW
Charity number 1057366