# Star Appeal reaches £3.65 million target for first UK children’s rare disease centre

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/08/18/star-appeal-reaches-3-65m-target-first-uk-childrens-rare-disease-centre/
- Published: 2017-08-18T09:29:06+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**The Star Appeal has reached its £3.65 million target to fund the UK’s first children’s
Rare Disease Centre 20 months after launch.**

The [Star Appeal](https://www.bch.org.uk/?q=content/be-star) has been raising the
funds for the centre, which will be based at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and
will provide a single location within it for all assessment, diagnosis, treatment
and research, bringing together a team of experts from specialities across the hospital
under one roof.

Launched at [The Big Hoot](http://thebighoot.co.uk/) auction in October 2015, the
appeal’s target was reached thanks to a £650,000 closing gift from St James’s Place
Foundation and donations from thousands of people.

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Expected to be complete by the end of 2017, the Rare Disease Centre will be housed
inside the hospital’s new £37.5 million clinical building, Waterfall House, on Whittall
Street.

Dr Larissa Kerecuk, Rare Disease Lead at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, said:

> “We’re incredibly grateful to our generous Star Appeal supporters, who have helped
> to make the dreams of thousands of young people living with a rare or undiagnosed
> condition come true.
> “We’re seeing more and more young people with very complex conditions and our 
> new Rare Disease Centre will allow us to treat each and every child in a unique
> and personalised way, not only improving their care, but hopefully their outcome
> too.”

 

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