THE CHILDREN’S Intensive Care Unit at St George’s Hospital in Tooting received a cheque for £3,200 today [Tuesday 21 November 2006].

The Looking Glass Nursery in Macmillan Way, Tooting nominated the Unit as its chosen charity of the year. Staff at the nursery took part in a sponsored walk from Trafalgar Square in Central London to Brighton Pier – a total of 65 miles over three days. They raised a grand total of £3,290.76 and presented the cheque to the Unit on Tuesday 21 November.

Steve Weekly, Manager of the nursery, said “It wasn’t difficult to choose the children’s intensive care unit as our charity of the year. We wanted to support the Unit because it is local to our nursery and benefits the local community. We also wanted to choose a charity that supports children. We are all delighted with the amount we have raised.”

Receiving the donation on behalf of the St George’s Charitable Foundation, the charity that administers donations on behalf of the Unit, Sister Debbie Lee said “We’re thrilled to receive this very generous sum of money and we are really grateful to the staff at the nursery for nominating us as their chosen charity. It’s great that a local company has chosen to support their local hospital and the specialist services it provides.”

The money will go towards particular items and equipment to make the children’s stay on the Unit more comfortable – hair washing boards, for example, so that the children can have their hair washed while lying in bed.

Notes to editors

  1. For more information, please call Liz Woods, Charitable Communications Manager at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, on 020 8725 4522 or e-mail liz.woods@stgeorges.nhs.uk
  2. The children’s intensive care unit is a five to eight bed intensive care unit, providing care for children requiring intensive care. The unit also provides high dependency care for local children and children requiring specialist care from across the south of England.
  3. St George’s Charitable Foundation supports the patients and staff of St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust by awarding grants to enable improvements in hospital buildings, facilities and equipment, for innovation and research and for the direct benefit of patients and staff. Its aim is to use the money it holds for the greatest benefit to patients, visitors and staff of St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and associated local health services, supplementing – and not substituting – government funding of core NHS services.