Giving to George's

About us

St George's Hospital Charity was established in April 2001 following the merger of two hospital charities, the St George's Hospital Special Trustees and the St George's Healthcare NHS Trust Charitable Funds.

The Charity and its Trustees are responsible for ensuring the best possible return on their investments, whilst also maintaining a sensible approach to risk.

We are members of the Fundraising Standards Board and we follow the highest standards of best practice, ensuring all our fundraising activities are open, legal and fair. This is known as the Fundraising Promise.

We are always pleased to receive feedback on the Charity's work or views on what the Charity's priorities should be. Similarly, if you have a complaint about the Charity's work, including any fundraising activity undertaken on its behalf, please contact the Chief Executive.

History

The hospital's original charitable endowments came from four philanthropists in 1716. Henry Hoare, a merchant banker; William Wogan, a writer on religious subjects; Robert Witham, a brewer; and Patrick Coburn, a former curate all met at St Dunstan's coffee house in Fleet Street and agreed to raise money and collect utensils for the sick poor of Westminster.

Encouraged by the success of and appreciation shown for their charity, they decided to open the Westminster Public Infirmary in Petty France in 1720. The demand for the facility was overwhelming and larger premises were opened in Chapel Street in 1724. By 1732, they were forced to seek an even larger building and St George's Hospital was established in Lanesborough House at Hyde Park Corner in 1733.

One hundred years after it first opened, the hospital was rebuilt at Hyde Park Corner. Supported by the generosity of its governors and the public, it continued to flourish. Some large donations were received, including the Atkinson Morley legacy which enabled the building of a convalescent hospital in Wimbledon.

When the NHS was created in 1948, health services were funded by the Government, but charitable donations continued to support the work of the hospital. These donations were managed by the Board of Governors of St George's Hospital until 1974 when Special Trustees were appointed to administer the Endowment Funds some of which originated from monies given or collected over the previous 250 years. By this time, St George's Hospital had relocated to Tooting on the site of the old Grove Fever Hospital, where it has thrived.

On 1 April 2001 the St George's Charitable Foundation was established, under Section 11 of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990. Following a review of our visual image, we decided to change our name to St George's Hospital Charity in 2007. Not only does this name say more precisely who we are, but it will avoid any potential confusion when the St George's Healthcare NHS Trust seeks Foundation status.

Our funds

The funds which the Charity holds are divided into two broad categories:

Unrestricted Funds, where the original donors did not give any particular instructions on the way they wanted the funds to be used, and the Trustees can exercise complete discretion over how the money is spent, providing they stay within the overall objects of the charity.

Restricted Funds, where the donors specified, directly or indirectly, the general or specific purposes for which they wanted the money to be used - for example, for the benefit of individual wards or departments or for specific research projects. The Trustees manage these funds but have no discretion over the purposes for which they may be used.

The Trustees have established a number of annual grants, for example for research, funding of the Arts Director, support for the Hospital's volunteers, and for the annual Christmas celebrations. These grants are subject to annual review to check that they are still achieving a worthwhile objective compared with other possible uses of the money.

In addition to the annual grants, we may award one-off grants, as and when funds are available. In making such grant decisions, we are keen to fund and support "Cinderella" services and activities which fall outside the mainstream provision. We are particularly keen to support projects which would be unlikely to attract priority funding in a target-driven service, but which can nevertheless make a substantial difference to the experience of large numbers of patients, especially those with chronic health problems.

Our policies

Reserves policy

We have established a reserves policy, which we keep under annual review. Our current policy is that the level of reserves which it is necessary to hold in the unrestricted funds over the medium term to enable us to maintain our chosen long-term grant giving policy is £7 million. So far as the restricted funds are concerned, we take the view that the money in these funds was donated for a specific purpose and it should be used promptly and effectively and not kept in reserve for more than a year or two.

Investment policy

We have instructed our investment advisers - Rensburg Sheppards - to achieve a balance between capital and income growth from a diversified portfolio of equities, bonds and cash, with the money in the restricted funds being invested in short dated fixed interest stocks to earn a modest return while protecting the funds against capital loss. We have also given instructions that shares should not be bought in companies engaged principally in the manufacture or sale of tobacco and alcohol.

St George's Hospital Charity has a new website: www.givingtogeorges.org.uk

 

Top 

 

 

Copyright ©2012 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust.