how to adapt

Save Our Services Chestnut Tree House

Local hospice launches crisis appeal as they lose 70% of fundraising income

Chestnut Tree House has launched a Crisis Appeal, asking the local community for support to ensure they can continue providing hospice care to children and families – now and in the future.

For the last 17 years, Chestnut Tree House has been there for local children with lifeshortening conditions and their families, both at the hospice near Arundel and in their own homes across Sussex.

No one is ever charged for the care they receive from Chestnut Tree House, but less than 6% of their funding comes from the government. The children’s hospice relies heavily on the support of the local community, through donations and fundraising.

But the coronavirus crisis is having a devastating impact on fundraising, with charity shops closed and events postponed or cancelled. This is threatening the future of the children’s hospice and the care and support they provide for local children and families.

Rosemarie Finley, CEO Chestnut Tree House said: “Now, more than ever, the hospice and the people who depend on it, need your help. Community support is vital. We appreciate that this is a difficult time for everyone, but if you can afford to, we’d be very grateful for any help you can offer – to keep our services running and bring some desperately needed support to children and families facing some very dark times.”

“As I’m sure you can imagine, coronavirus has hit our teams and the people we work with hard,” continues Rosemarie. “Because we care for some of the most vulnerable people in our community, we need to be

The maths is simple…

It costs £400,000 a month to run Chestnut Tree House, most of which comes from fundraising.

Right now, the hospice is losing 70% of their monthly fundraising income.

It is only a matter of time before they run out of money.

especially careful about how we work. And because our staff are hugely skilled, we have – of course – also been doing all we can to support the wider work of the NHS. We have had to adapt elements of our services as the situation has developed but caring for children and families who need us remains our top priority.

“We have had to close Chestnut Tree House for respite breaks and day care but we are still providing care for exceptional circumstances, end-of-life care and bereavement support. And our community team are still visiting children and families who depend on us.

“Like you, I want to make sure Lilly and her family, get the support they need while Chestnut Tree House is closed for respite breaks. And I need to make sure that there is a hospice here for them to come back to when this is all over.

“Please help us so that we can be there for those who need us – now and in the weeks and months to come. Thank you.”

Your support will help children like Lilly

Seven-year-old Lilly is profoundly deaf, cannot walk and has very complex needs. Now her family are in lockdown and finding life a huge challenge, as Lilly’s mum Paula said on the phone:

“I am just waiting for the phone call from Chestnut to let me know when someone can visit. That couple of hours will be lovely, it will just mean that I don’t have to worry about her for a little while. I can relax knowing someone else is with her to give her everything she needs.”

Confined to her home, Lilly and her family are struggling to cope. Your gift could fund a visit from one of the Chestnut Tree House team and give them a few hours of relief and joy.

First deliveries of Ricardo-assembled PPE reach care homes and the NHS

As a part of its effort to support local care homes and NHS trusts, Ricardo has made deliveries of the first 2,000 of its purpose-designed protective face shields – an important part of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required by those working on the front line of the national effort to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

The deliveries of the first 2000 protective face shields is a major milestone in Ricardo’s effort to provide PPE to front line workers in care homes and the NHS. The shields are made to a bespoke Ricardo design and benefit from the company’s experience of high value, rapid response assembly and supply chain management. Local NHS doctors assisted the Ricardo design team by testing the new face shield for enhanced comfort and wearability over extended periods.

The face shield frames were manufactured by longstanding supply chain partner Stephens Plastic Mouldings, using tooling co-funded jointly with Ricardo. To ensure that the face shields reach care home and NHS staff as quickly as possible, facilities at Ricardo’s Technical Centres at Shoreham by Sea in West Sussex and Leamington Spa have been repurposed as assembly lines and logistics centres for this much-needed PPE.

Although the requirement for the face shields was urgent, Ricardo followed the usual industry standards and best practice for testing. Ricardo worked with the industry-leading test provider SATRA to secure fast-tracked testing of its protective

face shield to EN166. Crucially, this testing enables the PPE to be NHS approved for Covid-19 emergency use.

Recipients of the first 2,000 face shields donated by Ricardo included Richmond Manor, Bedfordshire, of the Hamberley Care Homes group, Shelley Care Home in West Sussex, and the city and county councils for Brighton & Hove, Avon & Wiltshire and Warwickshire who are distributing PPE to care homes in their respective areas. In addition, supplies were also delivered to NHS teams including at the Avon and Witshire Mental Health Partnership, the Charter Medical Centre in Hove, and the Burgess Hill Covid Clinical Assessment Service.

“We are delighted to have received a donation of 250 visors from Ricardo and would like to thank them for their kind donation,” said Paul Hill, CEO of Hamberley Care Homes and Inspire Neurocare. “The safety and wellbeing of our residents and staff is our highest priority and I’d like to take this opportunity say a huge thank you to our care teams for their continued dedication and commitment during this challenging time.”

“We are very proud to be able to help to protect those in the front line at care homes and in the NHS, and it has been humbling for us to receive very positive feedback on our efforts to provide PPE to staff in these absolutely crucial roles.”

“We firmly believe that the correct and comprehensive PPE is absolutely key to delivering a robust service for patients, as we don’t want to shy away from clinical need, whilst keeping our staff safe,” commented Dr Esther Bird of the Burgess Hill Covid Clinical Assessment Service. “Ricardo’s assistance and foresight is very much appreciated.”

“The entire Ricardo team is committed to supporting our local communities in the fight against Covid-19,” added Ricardo Automotive & Industrial MD Stephen Dyke. “We are very proud to be able to help to protect those in the front line at care homes and in the NHS, and it has been humbling for us to receive very positive feedback on our efforts to provide PPE to staff in these absolutely crucial roles.”

In addition to the supply of face shields to care homes and the NHS, Ricardo announced earlier in the week that it is assisting healthcare technology company Isansys, which is facing an unprecedented demand for its advanced patient monitoring systems amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Ricardo is providing expert consultancy in supply chain development and manufacturing operations, with a view to enabling a rapid scaling up of production of these much-needed systems.

In further efforts to support the fight against Covid-19, Ricardo has also offered its services to government and to healthcare providers on the rapid design or conversion of vehicles for use as ambulances and as other support vehicles, and has offered the use of some facilities for testing or as logistic centres.