Local people asked to rally behind ambitious £1.6million Brighter Futures Appeal to raise funds for new Emergency Department in Swindon

Brighter Futures, the charity of Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is asking for local people to rally behind an exciting fundraising appeal for the organisation’s urgent and emergency care development.

Set for completion in just a few months’ time, the Trust will be opening the doors to a brand new Emergency Department and Children’s Emergency Unit, alongside improved Same Day Emergency Care and Medical Assessment Unit capacity.

With around £30million of Government funding for the development, Brighter Futures are looking to fundraise an extra £1.6million which will purchase equipment to help create an emergency care environment that supports Swindon’s growing population.

The charity is looking to provide the new Emergency Department with resuscitation equipment trollies, a mobile x-ray machine, furnishings for two private relatives rooms and a sky ceiling; to bring the outside, in.

For the Children’s Emergency Department, the charitable appeal will go a long way in furnishing the waiting room and private relatives room, and purchasing a reclining breastfeeding chair for the new baby room and a paediatric ventilator.

Cat Weaver, Associate Director of Fundraising, said: “We saw the people of Swindon and Wiltshire really get behind our first multi-million pound appeal when we raised funds for the Radiotherapy Centre, and we are now calling on our fantastic community to once again show their support for the local NHS.

“Only with these much-needed funds can we provide the extra special level of equipment and care which will help to create a more welcoming, calming and supportive environment for patients arriving to hospital; which is so important during some of the most distressing times in your life.

“We want to encourage local people to support our appeal, by simply making a donation via our website to holding fundraising events or taking on a thrilling activity such as a skydive. We are also asking for local businesses and companies to consider us for any generous donations you might be looking to make.”

One such local fundraiser is Royston Cartwright, who donated £1,000 to the Way Forward Appeal from a refunded holiday, after he wanted to give something back to the staff who cared for him following two heart attacks.

He said: “Our National Health Service is there to protect us. The service I had was perfect and after the operation, I had a letter to say the holiday had been cancelled but I’d been reimbursed 100% of the money.

“I said to my wife, ‘there’s only one place for this money to go, let’s give it to Brighter Futures’. It was my way of saying thank you for what they had done for me.”

Dr Liz Barneby, Consultant in Emergency Care, has worked in the current Emergency Department for many years. Liz and the wider team are looking forward to working in the new, modern and 60 per cent bigger department when it opens in the summer.

“Our current majors cubicles are quite small, with not a lot of space,” she said. “It’s very open and noisy, and looking really tired as well – lots of it tacked together after years and years of use. 

“The new Emergency Department will be a much more pleasant experience for patients, a better environment, more comfortable, more privacy but also allowing us to do the clinical work that we need to monitor patients appropriately and keep them safe.”

To find out more about how you can support the Way Forward Appeal, visit: Fundraising Appeal | Brighter Futures (brighterfuturesgwh.nhs.uk)

Watch the first of a series of WFP Appeal promotional videos here: Majors cubicles in our new Emergency Department (youtube.com)