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

Melanie May | 18 August 2017 | News

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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 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 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.

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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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.