Honourable Heroes 2021

Young Fundraiser:
Abigail Wattis

To thank our hospital for the two operations and care her brother, Oliver, received to remove a spinal tumour, Abigail organised a tremendous 35-mile bike ride from her home to our hospital. Joined by her family and friends, Abigail tackled many different weather conditions but managed to reach the finish line in one day. Not only did she achieve this fantastic accomplishment, she also raised just under an incredible £4,000 for us too. 

Volunteer of the Year: 
Charles Brook

Christmas at our hospital was made all the more magical in 2020 thanks to Charles, who helped bring our spectacular virtual grotto to life. From recording and editing over 130 videos to composing a bespoke jingle that filled homes with the sounds of the season, Charles helped us to deliver special messages from Santa to hundreds of children on the run up to the big day. He became our very own Christmas Elf and thanks to his generous gift of time, enabled us to raise over £1,700 to spread festive cheer across our hospital too. 

Superstar Fundraiser of the Year:
Lucy Chatting

Lucy is one of our most loyal and passionate supporters, having raised over an astonishing £200,000 for our Oncology and Research Departments under the fundraising alias, Carter the Brave. Along with friends and family, Lucy managed to raise over an incredible £69,000 for us in 2020. Even though she had to postpone their annual Winter Ball, family and friends rallied together to take on a number of other fundraisers, including head shaves and an amazing online auction. Her tenacious approach to fundraising for us is second to none. 

Outstanding Contribution to Fundraising: 
St Michael’s C of E High School

Since they began fundraising for us back in 2012, nothing has stopped the staff and pupils at St Michael’s in Rowley Regis from supporting us. Despite balancing remote teaching and learning throughout 2020, they still managed to launch one of our first virtual fundraisers, a pyjama party, where everyone made a donation to join in and donned their finest sleepwear. Next came a Star Wars themed virtual balloon race and then a virtual step challenge! The pupils and staff were determined to keep adding to their phenomenal fundraising total in new and creative ways, which saw them raise over a truly magnificent £3,700, helping them hit the incredible fundraising milestone of £40,000 last year. 

Remarkable Partnership: 
Gymshark

Gymshark pledged its support to us at the beginning of 2020 to help not only with an exceptional financial donation, but also by offering invaluable volunteering support so our Trust could continue to deliver its vital services. Over 650 hours were donated by the team, who delivered medication and prescriptions across the region and beyond. Simultaneously, they created a social media campaign takeover in the form of #NHSSweatySelfie to also help raise awareness of the incredible work taking place across our Trust. Our relationship continues to build momentum with more exciting plans already underway for 2021.

Corporate Supporter of the Year:
HSBC Birmingham Branches

The teams at HSBC branches across Birmingham offered much-needed, consistent support to us throughout 2020, raising money for us each month. They organised and hosted an abundance of virtual quizzes, put on a bingo night, held a number of fundraisers across their branches and some team members even braved the shave! Their remarkable fundraising over the past year has seen them raise over a truly amazing £5,400 which will go on to support the patients and families our hospital cares for.

The team at LM JV has been a brilliant supporter of ours since 2018 and it’s thanks to Katrien that the partnership has gone from strength to strength. By consistently sharing our fundraising ideas with her team and inviting us along to speak to her colleagues about the work of our hospital, Katrien has created an amazing fundraising culture. The team regularly takes part in events to raise money for us, including the Great Birmingham Run, and became fundraisers for the day in our Apprentice Challenge. They also donned their finest woolly knits for our annual Jolly Jumper Day. Last year, Katrien also arranged for a beautiful owl wood carving to be donated to our hospital, a feature that has become a much-loved part of our Matron’s Garden where staff, patients and families can visit for a few moments of peace. On top of everything else, when their fundraising plans had to be suspended last year, Katrien organised for LM JV to make a £3,000 donation to our charity, something which offered a huge boost to us at a time when it was very much needed.