Sheffield Hospitals Charity - strategy launch

Last night we hosted an event to launch our new strategy. We did something different and wonderfully creative. Why? Because our profile is lower than it should (especially given our remit), we've not been brilliant at showing the difference that people's donations make to the NHS and the people of Sheffield, and we wanted people to see and hear how we're changing.

Video and images will be out from Sheffield Hospitals Charity account next week.

If you weren't there, here's what I said (and will continue to say to anyone that will listen):

It just wonderful to see everyone in this space this evening. I’ve loved seeing people’s reactions to the exhibition.

Firstly, I'd like to say a huge thank you to Dominic Watson and Tom Street from Rathbones incorporating Investec, without whose sponsorship, we simply would not have been able to put this event on. With thanks also for their trust in us to do something a little different; it's fair to say that the creative brief escalated somewhat.

I’d also like thank Dr Andy Chantry, Consultant Haematologist at RHH for demonstrating the bone drills...with watermelons! And to Dan and Grant from Safeguard Medical for demonstrating the hyper-realistic mannequin.

You thought this was going to be a boring strategy talk didn’t you?

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We’re hosting this event, to show you the impact that we achieve through your gifts – your investment in our hospitals. Funds that some of you in this room have given.

We’re also here to be clear about our ambition and our approach.

Sheffield Hospitals Charity supports Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which comprises the Northern General, Royal Hallamshire, Jessop Wing, Charles Clifford Dental and Weston Park Hospitals – as well as team in over 40 community settings. We also support Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS FT which provides mental health, learning difficulty and other specialist services across the city.

Sheffield Hospitals Charity has the largest healthcare remit of any charity in the city, and by quite a stretch.

These two NHS Trusts employ over 21,000 staff who care for over 2million patients each year. Sheffield Teaching Hospitals alone, is in an anchor institution in this city.

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Did you know that NHS charities contribute over ￡1m to the NHS every day.

Just let that sink in.

And as you’ve seen this evening, Sheffield Hospitals Charity has done some fantastic things. Yet we’ve been hidden.

But we will not be hidden anymore.

Last year we gave around ￡2.5m. By the end of 2027 I aim for us to be giving nearer ￡4m.

You might think that this is ambitious for a charity, in this climate. It is.

But I believe it’s possible because of the people in this room and the social, moral and economic reasons for individuals, funders and businesses to collaborate with us.

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Sheffield Hospitals Charity is a little different to the other big charities in the city.

Because when you move beyond, ‘support the NHS’, we’re not the simplest cause to explain.

The people that benefit from SHC funding cannot be described simply by their age, their demographic, or their health issue. Because like the NHS, we are all things to all people.

When your GP refers you on, for whatever physical or mental health issue, you’ll be under the care of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals or Sheffield Health and Social Care.

Many of you will have been cared for at one of our hospitals or through our services so will have benefited from the Charity’s funding, perhaps without even knowing it.

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We support all the big areas like palliative care, cancer, cardiology and neonatal intensive care.

Over the next 12months we’re looking to fund a multi-million pound, multi-speciality robot for surgeries. This will reduce how invasive surgery is, speeding up convalescence, reducing time spent in hospital, and therefore help people to be independent again sooner.

From October, thanks to Phil Rodrigo we’ll be raising funds through the Master Cutler Challenge to support dementia care. Right now, we’re working with both NHS Trusts to identify, from diagnosis to end of life, what do people experience, how can that be improved, and crucially, where can our funding have the biggest difference?

These are big areas that we all ‘get’. We feel these things, because so many of us are affected by them.

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But equally, Sheffield Hospitals Charity is not going to shy away from areas that are less attractive, and quite frankly, are known as being ‘difficult to fundraise for’. Because some of these areas will have the greatest impact for our NHS, the greatest impact for Sheffield as a City, and will enable the best healthcare outcomes for us all.

Tackling health inequalities is a good example. We can support our Trusts to tackle health inequalities in the acute setting in hospital - and much wider in the community.

As I said, there are moral, social and economic reasons to support some areas – whether they look good on a billboard or not.

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I want to give you a sense of how we’re changing as an organisation, and the trajectory that we’re on:

·????? We’ve a new leadership team – with breadth and depth of experience, and we’re building an inclusive and professional team. When people leave our charity, I want them to go on and brilliant elsewhere.?

·????? We make the most of partnerships. Take Meadowhall . We got the giving box (tap to donate) for six months. But we worked with the Meadowhall Team to make it mutually beneficial. We had a range of activities going on, from a pop-up store with limited edition Henderson's Relish and our Ambassador Joe Scarborough’s paintings, through to the bereavement team from Jessops at the shopping centre offering support to people during Babyloss Awareness Week. We work with you for the good of your organisation while delivering real-life impact for people across Sheffield.?

·????? We’re building networks that will help us to support positive change. We’ve recently joined a network looking to develop new technology to support dementia care – led by the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and the National Innovation Centre for Aging. We are always thinking, ‘who can we work with and how can we work, so that together, we have the greatest impact’?

·????? We have proactively sought out incredible people who will challenge us and help us be the best we can be. On this note, I’m delighted to announce our new Ambassador, [oh no, can't put this in writing until after 4 July!], who is helping us to develop our approach to tackling health inequalities.

·????? Sheffield is on the up right now - the city centre is beginning to thrive again. We are part of that too. You may have seen our news yesterday that we’re moving our office to Leahs Yard in the Heart of the City, where we’ll be more visible and more accessible - as we should be, because our work supports everyone.

·????? I’m also delighted to say that this exhibition is moving to Sheffield Museums Millennium Galleries in July (23-28), giving more people the opportunity to see the difference we make and get behind supporting Sheffield’s NHS.

In summary – we are focused and we are aiming high.

Because whichever end of the 83 bus route you are on, we all deserve the best healthcare.