For 30 years, United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity has provided care and support for patients, their families and staff who look after them across Lincolnshire’s hospitals.
Since it was established on 17 September 1996, the charity has been helping to transform healthcare in Lincolnshire’s hospitals, by funding the extras which cannot be provided by the NHS alone.
Chair of Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group, Rebecca Brown said: “This wonderful charity has come a long way since it began supporting our hospitals in 1996. Today, more than 950,000 patients come through the doors of Lincolnshire’s acute hospitals every year. For some this will be a new and daunting experience, for others it may be the start of a long journey through different departments, creating anguish for themselves and their loves ones.
For thirty years United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity has existed to make every visit that little bit easier.”
In the last five years alone, the charity has raised over £3.3million, funding life-saving equipment, investing in new technologies, making improvements to hospital gardens, supporting staff wellbeing and providing those added extras that make a significant difference to patients and their families.
Among the projects funded by the charity are specialist head and neck cradles, which offer more comfort to patients with head and throat cancers when receiving radiotherapy treatment. Support has also been given to the neonatal units at Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, with two revolutionary cooling machines funded by the charity, which prevent brain damage in newborn babies following complications at birth.
The charity also provides additional equipment that has a significant impact on the wellbeing of patients, young and old. This includes the Kitten Scanner play therapy machine for children, to help them prepare for MRI scans in a fun and reassuring way. Since being introduced over 450 children have benefitted from these, giving them the confidence to undergo an MRI scan without the need for a general anaesthetic.
Sharon Wilkinson, from Lincoln, has first-hand experience of the impact the charity has on patients’ lives. Sharon was one of the first patients to use an innovative scalp cooling cap, designed to help reduce hair loss during chemotherapy treatments, and funded by the charity. Cooling the scalp reduces blood flow to the area, which can stop some chemotherapy drugs from affecting the hair follicles. The caps have been invaluable in helping patients like Sharon.
She said: “Keeping your hair is not for vanity, it’s for dignity, and to give you the focus and strength to fight cancer. I think it is fantastic that patients like me can have this treatment. Being able to walk down the street and feel confident and not feel like everyone is looking at you is so important and empowering.”
Thanks to the generosity of supporters, United Lincolnshire Hospitals charity has funded scalp cooling machines for hospitals in Lincoln, Boston and Grantham.
Reflecting on the charity’s achievements, Rebecca added: “The 30th anniversary of the charity’s service to the people of Lincolnshire is a time of celebration. Every patient and family using our hospitals has benefitted from our charity in some way, and we must ensure that United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity continues to provide this unwavering support for the next 30 years. We would like to thank all our supporters for their kindness and generosity. Their donations allow our patients to benefit from the best care, treatment and experience possible. Everything we have achieved over the past 30 years has been made possible because of their continued support.”
Throughout this 30th anniversary year, a series of fundraising events and activities will take place in support of United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity including a mammoth 55 miles walk from Skegness Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) to the site of the new CDC being built in Boston and on to Lincoln’s CDC, to raise £30,000 for the charity’s 30 years.
