Covid-19 Response Fund – An Update

Spotlight

Covid-19 Response Fund – An Update

Love Musgrove is thrilled to announce the total raised to date from our Covid-19 Response Fund has reached £560,000. This has been in thanks to a huge outpouring of support from the local Community, coming to the aid of Musgrove Park Hospital and the NHS in Somerset. Thanks to this incredible support and as we look to how else we can support Musgrove, we are drawing the fund to a close.

This total is made up of support from local people, NHS Charities Together and The Barclays Foundation. We have so far received £151,000 from NHS Charities Together, as part of their Covid-19 Appeal, given to us as a number of grants to support the work of NHS staff and Volunteers.

We purchased a total of 50 iPads that were used in our ITU (Intensive Therapy Unit) and other wards to help patients communicate with their families while visiting has been restricted. We also used these funds to cover the cost of laundry for staff staying in external accommodation away from their families while treating patients with Covid-19. The fund also supported the purchase of a number of meals for staff at sites right across Somerset, meaning colleagues had one less thing to worry about.

With the latest £50,000 grant from NHS Charities Together, we are supporting two new projects, the first, an expansion of the colleague wellbeing phone line, with dedicated support for our BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) colleagues that will be staffed by a BAME peer psychologist from our Psychological Therapies Service. This phone line is being created in partnership with the Trust and Sunny Sander-Jackson, our BAME Network Lead and specialist.

Many members of the Somerset Community came to the aid of the appeal by hosting fundraisers of their own, including Taunton Town Football Club, who raised over £6,000, our posties who raised over £5,000, individuals who took on marathons, swims and shaves and over £8,500 has been donated by Gazette Readers directly.

We are also supporting the work of the SIREN Research Study by funding a staff position for 9 months. This Health Care Assistant position will run the National Institute for Research Health study across multiple trust sites, including Musgrove and Somerset Community Hospitals. This research is helping scientists gain a better understanding of Covid-19 and we are so pleased to be able to support this nationwide effort.

We are also being supported by the Barclays Community Aid Package, supporting local communities impacted by Covid-19. The funding will go towards a project to better links between patients out in the community and services across Somerset – reaching the people most in need.

We’ve also been able to fund the purchase of 150 digital radios for those patients who could not have visitors during more stringent rules, alongside ring fencing money to increase cycling facilities and make improvements to staffrooms right across the Trust. Another great project we have been able to support, thanks to your donations, was helping get children used to staff and visitors wearing masks and PPE by purchasing a number of dolls who had handmade PPE added to them.

Although we are bringing this fund to close, there is still much work to be done and more funds to be raised for our ongoing projects across Musgrove. We know that the country and the world may have to live with this virus for the foreseeable future, so if you would like to continue to support our staff and patients, you can do so via our Better Everywhere Fund. The easiest way to donate is online at www.lovemusgrove.org.uk/donate/, to send a cheque made payable to Love Musgrove or give us a call on 01823 344437.

Make a Donation