Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital will turn purple to celebrate the official launch of their new hospital charities.

On Wednesday 3 June volunteers kitted out in the charities' official purple tops will hand out purple balloons, purple cupcakes and wristbands in honour of the launch.

A photo booth will give patients, visitors and staff at both hospitals the chance to pose for fun pictures with a variety of purple props and costumes. 

The launch follows the acquisition of Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (RFL) in July 2014.

The move saw the RFL’s Royal Free Charity expand to create two new arms, the Barnet Hospital Charity and Chase Farm Charity, which will each fundraise specifically for their own hospital.

The charity will provide its patients with the little touches and also fund bigger projects, both of which have a huge impact on our patients’ experience.

They will improve patient experience by providing hospital volunteers to help people find their way around, slippers for elderly patients and care packs for patients who arrive with nothing. 

They will also support major projects and buy specialist equipment that will make a real difference to patient care.

Last year the charity raised more than £15 million for the Royal Free London.

Chris Burghes, chief executive officer of the Royal Free Charity, said: “This is a really exciting time for the charity. Our aims are to improve the experience and well-being of patients and staff. Fundraising events and activities will play a key part in our role as well as managing charitable donations.”

Alison Kira, charity development manager, says, “A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to prepare for the launch of the new expanded charity. Today marks the day when we can shout from the rooftops about what we do and why we are here. For example, we now provide free massage therapy to patients being treated for cancer and we plan to roll this service out to other patients”.

On Wednesday Chris Burghes and David Sloman, chief executive of the RFL will officially launch the charities at 10.30am in the level 1 main corridor of Barnet Hospital and at 1.30pm in the glass corridor of Chase Farm Hospital.

If you want to get involved in fundraising for your local hospital, you can view the charity’s planned events at www.royalfreecharity.org/events

If you’re keen to organise something of your own we would love to hear from you, please contact Alison Kira for more information.

You can donate to the charity by:

•    Making a one-off or regular donation
•    Becoming a ‘friend’ of the charity and making a small, monthly donation
•    Texting BHCH71 (Barnet Hospital) or CFHC95 (Chase Farm Hospital) and £5 (or any amount) to 70070

For more information call our head office at the Royal Free Hospital on 020 7472 6677 or email rf.fundraising@nhs.net

Find out more about our charities or follow them on Twitter via @BarnetHospChty or @RoyalFreeChty.

Image 1: Royal Free Charity volunteers

Image 2: Chris Burghes, chief executive of the Royal Free Charity

ENDS

About the Royal Free Charity

In July 2014 Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital became part of the Royal Free London. Since then the Royal Free Charity has been working hard on expanding the service. Barnet Hospital Charity and Chase Farm Hospital Charity are now up and running. All funds raised by each charity arm will be used to benefit patients at that specific hospital.

We provide the little touches and big differences, including volunteer meet and greeters to help people find their way around, slippers for elderly patients and care packs for patients who may have arrived with nothing with them.

We also support the big projects that make a difference, from specialist medical equipment to  art work that brightens up hospital corridors.

About the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

The Royal Free began as a pioneering organisation and continues to play a leading role in the care of patients. Our mission is to provide world class expertise and local care. In the 21st century, the Royal Free London continues to lead improvements in healthcare.

The Royal Free London attracts patients from across the country and beyond to its specialist services in liver, kidney and bone marrow transplantation, haemophilia, renal, HIV, infectious diseases, plastic surgery, immunology, vascular surgery, cardiology, amyloidosis and scleroderma and we are a member of the academic health science partnership UCLPartners.

In July 2014 Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital became part of the Royal Free London.

For further information, visit www.royalfree.nhs.uk