Children and COVID-19 patients in hospital and frontline staff at the Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will benefit from a £10,000 donation made by a leading Challenger Bank.
Redwood Bank, which has an office in Warrington, is handing over the cash contribution to the Warrington & Halton Hospitals’ Charity, an organisation that raises funds to help people who have been in hospital and require some extra help beyond the services the NHS provides.
The money will be spent on toiletry packs and simple clothing for COVID-19 patients who are taken into hospital with no personal belongings, and on discharge packs for those recovering who may not have any of the basics waiting for them at home.
In addition, the Trust hopes to fund iPads and other devices, so that patients who are currently not allowed visitors can contact their loved ones via ‘face-to-face’ video calls.
The Trust’s Chief Executive Professor Simon Constable said: “Not seeing loved ones is a real concern for our patients, so as well as purchasing more devices, we’ve temporarily funded free bedside TV and phone calls for all patients.
“Our children have also been badly affected, as they’re only allowed one parent to stay with them on the ward and their siblings cannot visit at all. We’d like to provide our children’s ward with a range of additional items to help keep them amused.
“When people lose their life to coronavirus, they sometimes die without their loved ones at their side. This is heartbreaking for all involved, so we asked our community of knitters to make little red hearts. One stays with the patient and the others are given to the family in memory of their loved one. It’s such a small gesture, but many have found comfort from it.
“We’ll also be buying more red wool and knitting sets so we can ensure that every patient that passes while in our care gets this fitting tribute.”
The donation will also go towards helping to support staff mental health and wellbeing with the creation of a Sanctuary offering counselling and mental health support, as well as relaxation and yoga classes.
The charity supports the Warrington Hospital and Halton Hospital in Runcorn.
Gary Wilkinson, CEO and Co-Founder of Redwood Bank, said: “It’s devastating to hear that poorly children can only see one parent at a time and that COVID-19 patients are dying alone without all their loved ones around them. We all know this is necessary because of how infectious this killer virus is, but it doesn’t make it any easier for those involved.
“As a Bank there’s not much we can do, other than provide financial support, which is why we’ve decided to make this £10,000 donation to help support the brave frontline healthcare workers, the children who are missing their families and all the coronavirus patients who are fighting for their lives completely alone.
“We want each and every person at the Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to know we’re behind them and as a company we are also doing our bit as we’re all working from home and social distancing.”
The announcement comes just weeks after Redwood Bank pledged another £10,000 to the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, where the Bank has its headquarters.
As soon as the Government requested people work from home if they could, the Bank made it mandatory that all staff followed the rules.
Founded in 2017, Redwood Bank is the UK’s first business challenger bank to have been ‘born in the cloud’ which meant secure systems were already in place to support remote working.
All staff already had access to the technology and capabilities to allow them to work from anywhere in the country.
For further information about Redwood’s coronavirus approach, visit www.redwoodbank.co.uk
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