GOSH Charity & Sparks announce merger
Melanie May | 2 November 2020 | News
Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and Sparks are to merge at the end of this financial year, their joint Chief Executive Louise Parkes has announced.
Sparks launched 30 years ago and funds child health research. It joined GOSH Charity as a partner in 2017 to share resources and expertise. As part of the partnership, since then Sparks has contributed £2.2million to the jointly funded National Call, which funds medical research projects that could diagnose, treat and potentially cure rare childhood conditions.
Sparks is the smaller charity of the two and has been hard hit by the Covid crisis, with much of its fundraising reliant on events. As a result and to ensure that resources continue to be used efficiently moving forward, the two charities have made the decision to fully merge Sparks into GOSH Charity by the end of March next year.
In a letter posted on both charities’ sites, Chief Executive Louise Parkes comments:
“We have made this decision, as being a single charity is the most efficient use of our resources moving forward, and it means we can make the biggest difference possible to the critically ill children we exist to help.
“Our decision to merge Sparks with GOSH Charity does not change our commitment to funding paediatric research nationally, and investing in the work of scientists and researchers who are working around the clock to find ways to change and save children’s lives, remains a top priority for us.
“By taking this decision to merge we can guarantee the continuation of Sparks’ important work as GOSH Charity has committed to the same level of funding for research into rare and complex diseases. We will make sure the history of Sparks, its name and all the fantastic successes it has achieved will live on within GOSH Charity, and we will continue to fundraise through Sparks for the rest of this financial year.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.