On Thursday 27 April, Hillingdon Mayor Cllr John Hensley and Mayoress, Diane Hensley, joined us and 60 Harefield Hospital staff and former patients at a hard hat tour of the redevelopment of the Intensive Care Unit

The Mayor laid several bricks alongside our Chief Executive, Gill Raikes MBE, to celebrate us reaching £1 million in fundraising for the new Unit.

The million milestone means that we're now just £100,000 off our target contribution to the build, which will accommodate an additional 250 critically ill patients at Harefield each year. The extension will include six new patient bedrooms and a state-of-the-art scanner centre.

Guests were given a sneak peek of the works as the walls and corridors began to take shape. We invited donors who have been vital in achieving the fundraising milestone. Among them were heart transplant patient Geoff Gregory and his wife Beryl.

Mr Gregory said:

We found the tour both enlightening and informative. We both feel honoured to have been invited as Harefield means a great deal to us both – I spent a long time in intensive care following my heart transplant. We really look forward to seeing the Unit once it is finished.

Charity Chief Executive, Gill Raikes said:

The tour brought some of our most generous donors to see what a difference they are going to make to the lives of patients and their families at Harefield.  We still have a little way to go to complete our £1.1m target but we are very nearly there.

As well as the new patient rooms and scanner centre, the redevelopment will include a new sun therapy terrace giving patients better access to the benefits of sunlight and fresh air in a specially landscaped garden. One of the final stages in the redevelopment will be to plant 12 mature trees in the new garden. Mr and Mrs Gregory were among donors who stepped forward at the tour to give £1,000 each to buy and care for three trees. Mrs Raikes said the trees are “a moving and special gift that will last for many lifetimes”.  

Russell Cawberry, who kindly donated the hard hats for guests to keep as a memento, sponsored the evening. The Charity would like to say a huge thank you to them for their support. Also in attendance were representatives from Malt Brewery, who generously supported the Charity last year and will again be part-sponsoring the Charity’s Grand Canal Challenge on 25 June 2017.

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