Can you spare 10p for our A&Es?

As the NHS marks its 73rd birthday – an appeal has been launched to raise £70,000 for some added touches to make visits to A&E a little easier, with as little as 10p making all the difference.

The appeal is being led by Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust’s (NLaG) official charity, the Health Tree Foundation (HTF), who have worked out that if every adult in North and North East Lincolnshire donated just 10p, it would raise over £30,000 - almost half their target for the price of a single-use plastic carrier bag.

Each 10p donated to the appeal will go towards fantastic facilities like:

- Mobile gaming units and interactive floors to help keep our younger patients amused while they’re waiting to be seen

- Free mobile phone charging facilities to keep you entertained and in touch with your loved ones

- Sky Inside artificial skylight panels to help provide a more pleasant focal point for patients in our pediatric and resuscitation cubicles

- Screens which can be used as TVs and digital information screens.

The cost of installing these facilities in the new Emergency Departments, currently being built by the Trust in Grimsby and Scunthorpe, is just £35,000 per site and it’s all been selected by the Emergency Department staff based on what they see in A&E every day.

As part of the NHS birthday celebrations today, a number of ‘Big Tea’ events will be taking place to raise funds and say thank you for all the hard work of the NHS staff, who always give their all but have gone that extra mile during the global pandemic.

Clare Woodard, charity manager, said: “It is very exciting to be able to launch this appeal on the same day as the NHS birthday. Sadly, most people will need to visit A&E at some point during their lives – either as a patient or accompanying a loved one. We want to make what is never going to be a nice experience as pleasant as possible.

“These additional enhancements will make their next visit easier – whether that’s by helping to distract or entertain younger patients or something as simple as being able to charge their phone.

“Please get behind this appeal and donate what you can or organise an event to raise funds. Let’s make these new A&Es the best they can be!”

Fundraising events already in the pipeline include a charity cricket match between NLaG doctors and local GPs, an open water swim and bake sales.

If you want to organise an event, please contact the Health Tree Foundation via [email protected] and they will provide details and a fundraising pack. You can donate to the campaign via the Scunthorpe and Grimsby hospitals JustGiving pages.

More information is available on the Health Tree Foundation website.