GOSH Charity launches biggest ever fundraising appeal
Melanie May | 29 March 2023 | News
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) has launched its biggest fundraising appeal yet – the Build It. Beat It. campaign – to raise £300million for a new children’s cancer centre.
The campaign will be supported by this year’s TCS London Marathon. GOSH Charity is this year’s Charity of the Year, and hopes to raise £3.5mn towards the centre from the event. The appeal is also already being supported by the Grayken family, Premier Inn & Restaurants, Omaze, and Royal Bank of Canada, along with a number of other Founder Partners and Patrons.
The new centre will have new inpatient wards, intensive care units, new operating theatres and a cancer day care centre where children can receive their chemotherapy treatment, meaning the hospital’s specialist teams can all work more closely together in the same part of the campus. Alongside the clinical services, the Children’s Cancer Centre will also feature a new hospital school and outdoor spaces including a roof garden, to make sure children can still be children while they are going through their treatment.
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To launch the Build it. Beat it appeal, GOSH Charity has released a film, voiced by actor Sophie Okonedo and depicting the stories of four families who have been treated at GOSH; seven-year-old Archie, three-year-old Yumna, four-month-old baby Ralphie, and baby Max who sadly passed away from a malignant rhabdoid tumour just before his first birthday.
The new centre is necessary because last year 1,200 children visited GOSH to have specialist treatment for cancer, with instances of cancer continuing to increase, and childhood cancer still the leading cause of death in children aged 1-14 years old. The hospital’s existing cancer facilities were built many years ago and do not reflect modern healthcare, and cancer clinics and services are scattered across the hospital campus.
Louise Parkes, GOSH Charity’s Chief Executive, said:
“GOSH has been at the forefront of children’s cancer care for years, but it needs a new home for breakthrough treatments and pioneering research to benefit children from all over the world.
“It is devastating that cancer is still the leading cause of death in children, but building on decades of research and clinical expertise, the Children’s Cancer Centre has the potential to help change this. That’s why we are thrilled to be launching the Build it. Beat it appeal to help build a game-changing new facility that will help beat childhood cancer. As someone taking on the TCS London Marathon myself, it is so motivating to be running for such an incredible cause, but to make our vision of the Children’s Cancer Centre a reality, we need your help. We are calling upon the public to support the appeal and help us save more children’s lives.”
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.