These ‘dry runs’ are practice for the main event this summer, when an eighteen strong crew will row the length of the River Thames, a mammoth five day journey of over 140 miles.  You can read more about their adventures here http://www.givingtogeorges.org.uk/supporter/st-georges-hospital-boat-club/

So far their exploits have netted them a total of £2340.18 – a fantastic start, taking them well on their way to their £10,000 target.  These practice runs culminate on Monday with a 24 hour row at the main entrance of St George’s Hospital.

If you would like to sponsor them you can make a donation online – http://justgiving.com/epicrow.  Or text the amount you want to give + SGBC50 to 70070 e.g. ‘£10 SGBC50’ to 70070

“My form group raised some money to go towards the neuro intensive care unit at St George’s Hospital. This charity and unit was specifically chosen as our class charity because my sister, Holly Kenny, was involved in an accident where she was hit by a tram. She was treated for severe head injuries and was in an induced coma for a few weeks. When visiting, I saw the huge amount of great work the staff did and the excellent care they gave to all patients and so I am sure the money raised will be beneficial. My sister is still recovering but has made great progress due to the help of the staff in the unit. My family and I are so grateful to you all. So, along with my classmates, we managed to raise £100.55 to go towards any new equipment or anything to help within that unit. I hope that throughout the school year we will continue to raise money for this important cause and I hope this is of some help to you”

From ear bashings from militant matrons to yapping Pekinese dogs on the ward, the memories of nurses over the last 80 years are revealed in Nurses’ Voices.  Funded by St George’s Hospital Charity, it is an oral history of the profession, based on 1,000 hours worth of recorded interviews with nurses who trained and worked at St George’s Hospital and St George’s, University of London.

Each chapter tackles a different aspect of life as a nurse, including training, uniforms, life on the wards, social life, disasters and epidemics, and changes to clinical practice.  Author Carol McCubbin said “As well as all the stories, we’ve managed to build up an archive of uniforms, medals and other bits and pieces that people have given us.”

Matron Deborah Hennessy, who was at the hospital between 1989 and 1991 said the book was a lovely memory. “It is a very special hospital. I have worked all over the world and everywhere I go I meet nurses who have qualified at St George’s.  There is a huge pride in this hospital.”

Why not pick up your copy today?  A hardback copy of the book is now available for £20 rather than £25 or for £15 if you were one of the people who contributed.  Copies are available from the Fundraising Office, St George’s Hospital or by calling or emailing Katy Worley on 0208 725 4987 or katy.worley@stgeorges.nhs.uk

What we hadn’t expected was a cheque for £20,000 from the Take That Trust. Mark said “all the lads think this is a great project and that’s why on behalf of the Take That Trust I’d like to present the hospital with this cheque for £20,000.”

The money will go towards making sure the hospital stays for children, and their parents, are as comfortable as possible – toys, books, games and extra things for the garden, too!

Mark is pictured presenting the cheque to Ruth Meadows, head of children’s nursing; with the Blandford family who have raised huge sums of money for St George’s since their son Christian was treated for cancer here; with the MP for Tooting Sadiq Khan; and with the Play Team.

The fantastic 10km route will take you past many of central London’s world famous landmarks including St James’s Palace, Trafalgar Square, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Millennium Bridge, the London Eye, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

Commit to raising at least £200 for us and as a member of Team STG, you can expect:

• A branded breathable running vest
• Dedicated fundraising advice and support
• Promotional materials to help raise your profile at events
• A fundraising pack with tips and ideas to help you reach your target

Get in touch with us to express your interest in one of these places – fundraise@givingtogeorges.org.uk or 020 8725 4916. You can find out more about the race itself on the British 10k website.

Please get in touch before May 8th when we will randomly select our runners (by the tried and tested method of pulling names out of a hat!) and will let you know if you’ve been successful.

If you get your own place in the race and would like to run for us, then please do get in touch to join our team fundraise@givingtogeorges.org.uk

The garden was looking resplendent after a week’s worth of April showers and at times torrential rain. But the rain held off… just!

A garden especially for younger patients has been a dream for years and now it’s a reality. It incorporates ideas and features suggested by the children, including a vegetable patch and an animal enclosure. The two pygmy rabbits arrived on Monday and have been called – rather aptly – Howard and Jason.

We were joined by Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting, and his family, as well as children (and their families) who have been treated at St George’s.

We moved indoors for afternoon tea and children’s activities, including willow weaving, and clowning around with Smartie Artie.

Mark said “It’s truly magical”.

St George’s Hospital Charity has five charity places available for the 2013 London Marathon. These are called Golden Bonds.

If you would like to run for St George’s Hospital Charity, we advise you to follow the steps below:

Step 1 – Apply through the official ballot

This means you’ll be in with the chance of getting your ‘own’ place, and can still run for St George’s, raising as much as you can (and with no minimum sponsorship).
You can only apply for the ballot online. We advise that you do this as soon as the public online ballot opens as it closes as soon as it is full (very quickly!) – http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/. The public ballot opens on Monday 30 April 2012.

By October 2012 you will receive a copy of Marathon News which will advise if you have been successful or not.

If you are successful we would love to have you join our team of runners – you’ll receive the same support as our Golden Bond runners.

Step 2 – Apply for one of our Golden Bond places

We advise you to apply for the ballot, but if you want to double your chances of being able to take part then please apply for one of our guaranteed, but limited, Golden Bonds. Download and complete our application form. We will let you know by the end of October 2012 whether or not you have been successful.

We ask all Golden Bond runners to pledge to raise a minimum of £2,000 to help us continue to support St George’s.

What’s in it for you?

You’ll be raising money for an important cause. Many of the people who have run for St George’s in the past have done so because they want to give something back for the care and treatment that they or a loved one has received. Others have been motivated by a particular area or specialism of the hospital.

Whatever your motivation, the St George’s Hospital Charity fundraising team will support you along the way, with encouragement and enthusiasm!

London Marathon 2013 Application Form pdf

The 2013 London Marathon takes place on Sunday 21 April.

It wasn’t until after 3pm that the heavens finally opened and it poured with rain, but it was so great for us to see the few runners that made their way through the crowds to meet us near the finish line.  We were able to thank them for their amazing efforts and give them some much needed fuel in the form of chocolate!

St George’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) nurse Sophie Guse was our first runner who came to see us and she is raising funds to benefit her department at the Hospital and has raised over £740 so far.  Sarah Davies came along next and with last year’s London Triathlon already under her belt she was delighted with her achievement in the London Marathon this year and is again raising money for our Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Team at St George’s and has also raised just over £740.

Dan Johnson has been running half marathons, 10k’s and even winning a few duathlons over the last few months in preparation for his participation in this year’s London Marathon, which he wanted to do for the Cardiology Department at St George’s since his Dad had received a triple bypass and wonderful care there last year.  Dan injured his knee at mile 13 and is now hopefully recovering well, but he managed to run with a limp all the way along the rest of the route to complete his marathon distance, which makes him a real trouper and he’s already raised an incredible £2,160 so far!

Long time supporter of St George’s, Jenny Tasker, was our fourth runner to come and see us at the finish and was welcomed by her husband Dan and her parents Roger and Ruth who had been following her around the course throughout her run trying to catch glimpses of her as she ran past.  Jenny has already raised around £2,500 for the Gastroenterology Department at St George’s so that they can buy a piece of equipment that will help them to analyse and detect food intolerances in their patients.  Her husband Dan has inspired all of her hard work running and fundraising for St George’s as he has received multiple operations and treatments at the Hospital, but is now finally feeling much better and has even been able to take up running himself.  Maybe we’ll be celebrating his victory at the London Marathon next year!  (No pressure Dan)

We are so grateful to all of our runners for their fantastic efforts to push themselves to their limits for St George’s Hospital Charity and to support the amazing teams within the Hospital that support our extended community.

We’ll be putting application details up in our events listings very soon, but in the meantime, if you’re inspired and would like to join the St George’s team at next year’s London Marathon, please contact Maribel or Liz by email: giving@stgeorges.nhs.uk.

Seven of our runners took part on the day and we were lucky enough to meet three of them at the finish line in the Charity Village.  First in to see us was Andy Brock, who had a bit of a health setback during the race, but still managed to finish in a fantastic 4.08 hours!  Next in was Alan Nelless, who ran the London Marathon for us and another charity last year.  Alan completed his Brighton Marathon in 4.42 hours and managed to eat some chocolate and have a sit down before telling us in no uncertain terms that, although he was very happy to have done this for St George’s, in future he would have to do something else as this would be his last marathon!  Richard Buchan joined us just after Alan had got in and he had achieved a brilliant time of 5.12 hours.  We managed to have a chat with him before he was whisked away by friends to celebrate.

We couldn’t be prouder of our wonderful team of Brighton Marathon runners who are all on target to raise well over £3,000 as a team for St George’s Hospital Charity this year!

Our first donation came on Tuesday from the good eggs at the Shri Sathya Sai Service Organisation.   They were dropped off in the early hours of the morning by Aberamy, who works here at St George’s at the Maxiofacial Unit.  On Wednesday we were paid a visit by the women’s section of the local Ahmadi Muslim Community. Finally this  morning, Laura from Virgin Active in Wimbledon delivered three bin bags filled with eggs – all of which were kindly donated by their customers at the gym over the past couple of weeks.

They were split evenly between the children on the paediatric wards and some of our older patients on the Care of the Elderly wards.  When our office administrator Katy delivered a load to senior sister Amanda on Heberden ward she was delighted remarking ‘Wow, there are so many, I’m sure our patients will be eggstatic!’

Once again we would like to thank all those who made donations, both financial and chocolate related, over the Easter period!