Our charity: Thank you to our people and our community for your support

We have seen many wonderful acts of generosity during the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19). We are so thankful to our people and our community for their support.

From gifts and donations to our charity appeal, to kind words from patients, and colleagues getting involved in donating more than 1000 cans to the local foodbank so far, it has been overwhelming to see just how much support our amazing people have been shown by our community – and in turn, the support you have given back.

You can read all about the latest updates from our hospital charity below. hospital on their behalf. Teams at PAHT have kindly support the community have launched their ‘We can with a have all been inspired by. We

with many colleagues continuing

Hospital staff give back to the community by donating more than 1000 cans to local foodbank

decided to support the Harlow Foodbank by encouraging colleagues to donate cans of food for vulnerable local families.

The initiative began when the emergency department (ED) team can’ initiative a few weeks ago, in response to which they have seen a great level of support. This inspired other teams across the hospital to also get involved. The hospital has currently donated approximately 1000 cans of food to the foodbank – with more adding to the total every day.

The Harlow Foodbank is in need of tinned goods to help local families in these difficult times. They would also very gratefully receive other non-perishable items, such as rice, pasta, noodles, and toiletries.

The hospital is encouraging as many staff as possible to take part – those who are currently working remotely can pledge a donation to be made by a team member at the

Dawn Sullivan, general manager of the emergency department, said: “We have been absolutely delighted by the generosity and shown us during the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19).

We wanted to give something back to show how grateful we are. We heard that the Harlow Foodbank needed canned goods and we thought that with just one can from each member of our 200-strong team in the emergency department, we could make such a difference.

Ogechi Emeadi, director of people, organisational development and communications, said:

Thank you to the emergency department (ED) team for thinking of this wonderful idea, which we to join in.

want to keep the initiative rolling,

We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we’ve seen from our local community in the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19). We are extremely pleased to be able to make this contribution to help local families who are struggling during these unprecedented times.

Pictured overleaf top: The COVID-19 Strategic Cell at The Princess Alexandra Hospital supporting the ‘Can with a can’ campaign for our local residents

Overleaf: non-executive directors supporting the ‘Can with a can’ campaign for our local residents.

Some of the canned goods collected so far.

Premier League football star makes generous donation of technology products to support hospital

A Premier League football star has made a kind donation of 10 iPads for our patients to keep in touch with their families while on our wards.

Adam Smith (pictured right), who plays for AFC Bournemouth, is originally from the local area, and wanted to help us during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response.

In addition to the 10 iPads, Adam has donated accompanying cases and 10 pairs of Apple EarPods headphones to be shared with staff in a prize draw.

Adam said:

I made this donation so that people can FaceTime their families when they are ill and need to speak to them. Hopefully this helps them out and helps the hospital out and makes it more comfortable for them. I have my own family and I can’t imagine what it feels like.

A massive thank you to all of the NHS workers, the doctors, the nurses, everyone associated with the hospital and the NHS, you are doing an amazing job for the COVID-19 patients. Thank you so much for your hard work.

Shahid Sardar, associate director of patient engagement, said:

We are so grateful to Adam for donating iPads to be used for our video call service.

Since we introduced the service, we have received fantastic feedback about the difference this has made for our patients and their family members.

It means so much to people to stay in contact with their loved ones during these unprecedented times and helps to keep their spirits up. John Keddie, non-executive director at PAHT, who chairs The Princess Alexandra Hospitals’

Adam Smith. Charity, said:

Thank you to Adam for making such a thoughtful gesture in donating so generously to our hospital.

The iPads will provide an important way for our patients to communicate with their friends and family members as part of the video call service available at our hospital. The prize draw for the headphones will also give a real

boost for our dedicated staff.

Cleaning company kindly donates to local hospital’s coronavirus (COVID-19) charity appeal

A local cleaning company have generously donated an astounding £7,500 to help support our hard-working staff during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Cleanbrite, who have specialised in the cleaning industry for over 45 years, wanted to help make a difference for fellow key workers during these unprecedented times and enhance patient care.

Darren Edmonston, Cleanbrite managing director, said:

We are pleased that our donation will benefit the NHS heroes who go the extra mile every day. I was born and brought up in Harlow, so it means a great deal to support the local hospital.

We know first-hand the value key workers are making, the courage of the staff is amazing and we wanted to show our token of appreciation by donating the