About our charity
Our charity supports projects across our hospitals with the help of our generous supporters. We provide extras outside of NHS funding that make a difference to our patients and their families.
City Hospitals Sunderland staff support their charity in the Sunderland 10K back in 2017
City Hospitals Sunderland Charity exists to go above and beyond for those in Sunderland and surrounding areas.
With the generous support of our staff, patients as well as their friends and families, we fund specialist equipment, make our hospitals more comfortable for those who need them, and provide other extas that make a difference.
Our work is made possible by those who donate, fundraise and volunteer to support our charity. Some have even left a gift in their will to continue making a difference even after they have left us.
So what has the charity done?
We support projects and initiatives across City Hospitals Sunderland, ranging all the way from children's wards through to care of the elderly. It would be difficult to put all we do into one place, but here are four examples of how we make a difference.
Complementary therapy suite
The Trust's Complementary Therapy room was funded by supporters of Sunderland Cancer Patient Support Centre. The room was refurbished and repurposed to become a safe, quiet place for those receiving cancer treatment to receive complementary therapies. Therapies are funded by our charity and delivered in partnership with Coping With Cancer North East.
Dialysis machines
In 2017 the time had come to update the Trust's Haemodialysis machines. But rather than simply replacing the units, our charity was able to fund an upgrade to state of the art dialysis machines, matching the Trust's equipment to the exceptional care the Renal Unit team offer.
Neonatal miniboos
Smell is extremely important for newborns and their mothers to bond - it stimulates milk production in mothers and is proven to sooth babies. So being seperated in an incubator is difficult for mothers and little ones. Miniboos are cuddly toys that pick up the sent of mother and baby, which are swapped after a few days. Babies then recognise their mother's scent when they are ready for more cuddles.
Critical Care Simman© training
Sunderland is fortunate to have a state of the art Integrated Critical Care Unit (ICCU). The ICCU team continually seek to stay at the top of their game, and our charity was able to fund a simulation model to support them. The model rehearses common and complex procedures so when staff do come to perform them on a patient they are certain in their skills.
