The Executive
Committee then considers the items for consideration in detail.
Clearly those items providing the greatest benefit either in
clinical, waiting list, length of stay, patient dignity or,
rarely, economic terms will be favoured. The Friends exist to
ENHANCE patient
care and will not purchase any item to replace another - we
are not a substitute maintenance budget! We are very careful
how we spend our hard-earned money but, over many years, have
become very good at spotting where a relatively modest spend
will produce an inordinate improvement.
WE
MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE.
We have either purchased or
ordered items valued at around £50,000
for each of the past 4 years but this record takes a lot of
hard work by our 400 members and by others who raise funds for
us. They include a number of businesses who have joined as corporate
members and we are seeking to recruit more - please see the
corporate member page. Take a look at the web page for purchases
to see what we have bought and how many places in our local
NHS services benefited. If you would wish to join us in our
work or make a donation then please click on Contact. In return
we will send you a bi-annual Newsletter and give you plenty
of opportunities to help us fundraise.
Finally, it is worth mentioning
that we are part of a national movement called ATTEND (formerly the National
Association of Hospital & Community Friends). There are over
750 groups with 43,000 active volunteers operating throughout
the UK raising some £45.5M a year. The League of Friends
of Ripon Hospital, a separate registered charity, supports the
Ripon Hospital but we often work jointly to fund items for both
the PCT and Foundation Trust.
Andy
Wilkinson - Chairman
|
