YOU have raised a whopping £1MILLION for our Who Cares Wins appeal.
And NHS staff across the UK have responded with a resounding: “THANK YOU”.
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Your donations are now going towards care packages, food and vital equipment for brave nurses, doctors and NHS staff on the Covid-19 front line.
In less than a month, Sun readers, celebrities and UK companies have rallied together to reach our target.
All Who Cares Wins proceeds go to NHS Charities Together’s Covid-19 Urgent Appeal.
It has helped fund urgent grants of £35,000 for more than 220 hospital charities across the UK as brave doctors and nurses battle the coronavirus pandemic.
GENEROUS SUN READERS
Ellie Orton, head of NHS Charities Together, said: “Thank you so much to all the readers of The Sun for your kind donations.
“The money you have given is being used right now by NHS charities to support staff, volunteers and patients in this unprecedented crisis.”
Money and kind-hearted messages from Sun readers have raised spirits among medics who say the donations have given everyone a much-needed morale boost.
The Epsom and St Helier Hospital Trust in Surrey has received a £35,000 grant.
That cash will be spent on essential goods for staff and improving patient areas in the trust’s hospitals. Its doctors and nurses thanked everyone for digging deep during the appeal.
Give now to The Sun's NHS appeal
BRITAIN’s four million NHS staff are on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.
But while they are helping save lives, who is there to help them?
The Sun has launched an appeal to raise £1MILLION for NHS workers. The Who Cares Wins Appeal aims to get vital support to staff in their hour of need.
We have teamed up with NHS Charities Together in their urgent Covid-19 Appeal to ensure the money gets to exactly who needs it.
The Sun is donating £50,000 and we would like YOU to help us raise a million pounds, to help THEM. No matter how little you can spare, please donate today here: www.thesun.co.uk/whocareswinsappeal.
Chief Nurse Arlene Wellman said: “Our staff have really appreciated the support — the many gifts of face and hand cream, food and treats as well as the many, many thank you cards we have had.
“We are currently buying tablet computers for use on the wards and will use some of the funds we have received to help us to buy even more.
“These are being used to help our patients stay in touch with their relatives and loved ones during this very difficult time.
“Thank you to everyone who has donated, for the kind words and for all your support.”
Sun readers’ donations provided more than enough for 28 hospitals to receive the emergency funds from NHS Charities Together.
Our Who Cares Wins Appeal will also go towards funding a second wave of grants.
As crucial goods reach grateful NHS staff, we speak to hospitals up and down the country about how your donations are helping them.
HOW YOU HELPED HIT £1M
OUR appeal raised cash from many different sources, with our Virgin Giving page driving online donations.
We received fantastically generous pledges from business and private individuals.
Here are some of the biggest donations:
- £120,893 – Mark Beaumont’s World In A Day Bike Ride (including £50k from businessman Les Hutchison)
- £100k – Sir Tom Hunter, entrepreneur and philanthropist
- £70k – H Samuel
- £50k – Barratt Homes
- £50k – Legal and General
- £50k – anonymous donor
- £50k – entrepreneur Matt Haycox
- £50k – The Sun
Readers so big-hearted
IT began just a month ago with £10 from mum of two boys Sophie Walmsley.
And since then thousands of our generous army of Sun readers have given amounts large and small for our NHS heroes.
We have read every message posted with your donations on our Who Cares Wins page.
Our £1million appeal launched on April 4, which should have been Grand National day.
The Hague family, from Hull, gave their winnings from the virtual Grand National, while Philip Rutter raised £300 with a sweepstake.
Musician Jim Ramsey, 59, has so far raised £2,500 for the appeal with online busking sessions from his home in Usk, Monmouthshire.
Generous Jim, who lost an aunt to Covid-19, streams mini-concerts every night on Facebook which have been viewed 50,000 times by people all over the world who donated into his virtual hat.
Dad-of-one Jim says: “I’m delighted The Sun has raised a million for the people that matter.
“I can’t wait to get back out busking on the streets — but until then I’ll keep singing for our NHS heroes.”
Sixteen-year-old singer Lauren Eve raised more £1,000 with her video of Over A Rainbow featuring 53 NHS workers from Manchester.
Rich Gibson donated his £121 Lottery win to our fund while seven-year-old Madeleine Floyd gave us the £28 she raised by selling Easter sweets. Clayton Murphy, five, gave £15 to NHS workers with “soooo much love”.
Instead of gifts for her 90th birthday, Diana Pleasants asked for donations to our Who Cares Wins appeal and raised £50.
Angie, Donna, Matt and Dave handed over the £450 they raised for the Hastings Half-Marathon which was cancelled by the coronavirus crisis.
Hazel Townsend, Sean Broadbent and Derek Streeter were among hundreds of readers who donated the contents of their Sun Savers wallets to the fund.
Siobhan Tate raised £136 from a garden bingo session in her street and Jane Green gave £60 from a book sale outside her home.
Many of you have given the money you saved while being on lockdown.
Roy Steel donated his £30-a- week travel bills while Jonathan Adams, who gave £20, said: “Who needs a daily coffee? This is a much better cause.”
Krys Hendricks gave £100 and said: “Dress? Pair of shoes? No competition! The NHS deserves everything we can give.”
Thousands of readers made anonymous donations. A sum of £1,000 came from a woman whose partner’s life was saved after an horrific accident.
The anonymous donor wrote: “If it hadn’t been for the NHS staff he would not be here today. God bless you all and keep safe.”
Food for heroes
FRONTLINE doctors and nurses have been working around the clock, with barely time to grab a bite to eat.
Your donations have helped to stock hospital canteens and shops with free, nutritious meals and treats.
Charing Cross Hospital in, Hammersmith, West London, received food, drink and snacks for its free staff shop, run by Imperial Health Charity.
Volunteer Alistair Baldwin, 30, said: “We’ve been keeping the shelves stacked.
“NHS heroes can pick up food, toiletries and other essentials they need. Thank you, Sun readers.”
Susie Pugh, a furloughed teacher who has also stepped up to volunteer, said: “One nurse told me last week, ‘You’ve really made a difference on a very difficult day’.”
Pressure eased
WITH your help, nurses are able to treat patients without them going into hospital.
NHS charity Awyr Las — or “blue sky” in Welsh — asked NHS Charities Together for funds for blood pressure monitors at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan, Denbighs.
Nursing director for surgery Jan Garnett, 53, said: “We can’t readily bring patients to hospital. So with these machines patients can check blood pressure at home.
“It’s allowing us to monitor patients at a safe distance.”
The cash has also gone towards a well-being hub, with furniture, snacks and relaxation CDs for staffers to chill out in between shifts.
Jan added: “Knowing people are giving so generously makes us all feel proud to be working where we are.
“A huge thank you.”
Thank you, pod
EXHAUSTED doctors and nurses can now rest between shifts thanks to donations that paid for sleep pods.
St George’s hospital in Tooting, South London, is renting the devices — which cost around £18,000 to buy — for a year in its well-being rooms.
They will also make sure staff are not too tired to drive home. Consultant obstetrician Mr Matthew Cauldwell said: “Readers’ support makes us feel really special.”
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in South West London is now able to hire 11 pods.
Cheltenham and Gloucester hospitals have six, along with fold-out beds and reclinable chairs.
The two hospitals have also given out 10,000 bags to medics packed with refreshments and moisturiser for sores caused by wearing masks.
Touched by gifts
DELIVERIES of iPads went to coronavirus and critical care wards at eight hospitals in the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust region.
These will allow patients and their families to keep in contact through video calls.
Clinical nurse Jane Kelly-Lloyd said: “Hearing, seeing and speaking with loved ones, even virtually, helps raise spirits.”
The trust’s charity development manager, Pat Chambers, added: “We got a call from our staff to say loneliness and isolation was an issue on Covid and 52 other wards across our eight hospitals. The funding we received from NHS Charities Together, along with other generous donations, is helping patients and staff stay connected with their loved ones.”
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