One of the most enjoyable responsibilities of my role at the Charity is making sure supporters’ donations are spent in a way that gives our hospitals the help they most need.

In September, I was in a position to announce to a group of 170 supporters and special guests at a reception at the Chelsea Physic Garden a commitment of an additional £182,000 for equipment, which Royal Brompton and Harefield urgently need.

This contribution is part of one of our key funding priorities – to help the hospitals with their recovery from the challenges of Covid-19. This doesn’t just mean supporting some of their urgent needs as they continue to battle the virus, but also making sure they are in the best position possible to deal with the impact of such a significant disruption to their ‘routine’ work (although nothing is really routine at these hospitals).

So, we are particularly grateful to The Kusuma Trust UK for their extraordinary £251,460 donation, which means we can complete the work to refurbish two cath labs. That will massively enhance the hospitals’ ability to tackle the waiting lists.

We have two other key funding priorities over the next year. One is to support research and innovation at the hospitals and the other is to fund projects to improve the patient experience. We have just announced grants for three exciting new research projects and I look forward to telling you about the work of our Patients’ Fund next month.

Thank you for your support, now and always.