‘The £12K of Christmas’ is aiming to raise funds to pay for three specific projects for the radiotherapy team, which is based in the Lingen Davies Centre at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Organisers have come up with a number of ways that people can contribute to the fund, which began this week and will remain open until 15 January.
If the appeal successfully reaches its goal, the cash will be used to fund:
– A ceiling-mounted hoist to assist less mobile radiotherapy patients, allowing them to be transferred safely onto and off the treatment couch
– Refurbishment and re-siting of some of the waiting areas within the radiotherapy department to offer more privacy
– A DPD system which helps verify the dose of radiotherapy delivered to patients and potentially reduces the treatment time
Louise Cliffe, Fundraising Manager for Lingen Davies, said:
“This is the first time we have run a specific Christmas campaign. We’ve gone for a catchy name that everyone will be able to remember because of its similarity to a famous Christmas carol.
“Over the course of the last 18 months we have seen the new Cancer Centre opening and we raised £3.2 million towards that project, but we are still busy raising money to support cancer patients across Shropshire and mid Wales.
“Earlier this year we handed over a donation to boost Endoscopy services at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and we are delighted that this campaign will enable us to help with improving the experience for radiotherapy patients.”
Ways of donating to the campaign include the ‘Wishing on a Star’ initiative, whereby people are asked to donate money at their workplace instead of sending Christmas cards to all of their work colleagues. Anyone interested in running such a scheme in their office or workplace can contact Louise in order to be sent a Wishing on a Star poster and a collection tin.
Home collecting boxes are also available for individuals who wish to donate loose change they may have lying around at home to the appeal.
People can also donate directly, either on line by visiting the charity’s Virgin Giving Christmas Campaign page (http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LingenDavies12KXmas) or by posting a cheque to ‘Lingen Davies Cancer Fund CC’.
“We’ve run the Wishing on a Star appeal before but this is the first time that the proceeds will go towards a Christmas campaign,” added Louise.
“It can be a pain having to write Christmas cards for everyone in your office. This way you get to leave a Christmas message for your colleagues on the Wishing on a Star poster and help a good cause at the same time.”
Any funds raised over and above the target set by the campaign to finance the three specific radiography projects will be used for the charity’s general purpose of aiming to improve facilities for all cancer patients in Shropshire and mid Wales.
For more information, call 01743-492396 or email lingendavies@sath.nhs.uk
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