NHS Charities Together Covid-19 appeal funds over 600 projects
Howard Lake | 1 September 2021 | News
NHS Charities Together’s Covid-19 Urgent Appeal, which raised £150 million, has funded over 600 projects across the UK. These are helping patients, volunteers, communities and NHS staff across the UK.
The record-breaking sum and how it was spent are detailed in the charity’s 2020 Annual Report.
NHS Charities Together is an independent national charity representing 240 NHS charities in the UK. Its emergency appeal last attracted the support of Captain Sir Tom Moore, Joe Wicks, Premier League footballers, and many people across the UK. The funds that it raises “enable the health service to go above and beyond what would otherwise be possible”.
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How the money was spent
In total last year, NHS Charities Together allocated over £110 million to its member charities:
- £42 million to meet urgent needs within the NHS
- £33 million to support projects in the community
- £35 million to support the recovery of the NHS
Funds are still being allocated this year.
Projects funded in 2020 included:
- counselling services for NHS staff
- helplines
- practical support (e.g. access to necessary food, drink and rest areas)
- intensive psychological support for post-traumatic stress disorder
- broader patient focused initiatives funding research into Long Covid
- bereavement support
- digital devices to keep isolated patients connected with loved ones
- specialist equipment.
SEE ALSO: Hospital by the Hill: book published to help bereaved children of key workers (23 March 2021)
This year NHS Charities Together has also funded thousands of emergency first responder volunteers to help take pressure off overstretched ambulance services.
Captain Tom Moore helped inspire giving to the NHS Charities Together appeal. 
Thank you for NHS Charities Together
Ellie Orton OBE, Chief Executive of NHS Charities Together, said: “Back in March 2020, as the pandemic began to escalate, there was a phenomenal outpouring of support from the UK public for the NHS, and we still feel completely blown away by their generosity. Despite how heart-breaking this time was for all of us, people wanted to show their gratitude and show how much the sacrifices of NHS staff meant…
“We are now facing a long period of recovery, with a significant toll on exhausted workers, a backlog of patients, and clinics that are busier than ever. NHS staff are continuing to be there for us despite the ongoing challenges, but we must continue to be there for them in the long term.”
Kate Sinclair is Staff Nurse in the ICU at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Funded by the North Wales NHS charity, Awyr Las, using NHS Charities Together grants, her team have been able to help extremely sick patients cope with anxiety and isolation due to Covid-19, keeping them connected with family members by funding equipment like iPads to enable virtual visiting.
She said: “The funding has made all the difference to so many patients and staff. It has been so traumatic seeing patients isolated from loved ones during the pandemic. We were able to fund devices that enabled patients to see their loved ones – tragically, sometimes to say goodbye to them – which made all the difference to them at that difficult moment.”
- NHS Charities Together raises £100m through Covid-19 appeal (6 May 2020)
- Captain Tom breaks records as fundraisers raise millions on JustGiving for Covid-19 causes (16 April 2020)
- Over 5,000 sign up to host today’s biggest ever NHS Big Tea (5 July 2021)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.