We’re delighted to share our annual report for 2020 to show the huge impact of generous donations from the public during the most challenging year the NHS has ever faced.
Thanks to your incredible support, our record breaking Covid appeal raised £150 million in total. Our small team rose to the mammoth task of quickly establishing a grant giving programme and ensuring funds reached the staff and patients most in need across every part of the UK, though our 240 member NHS charities.
Your donations have helped us fund life-changing projects that support exhausted staff with counselling, helplines, a place to rest, or other wellbeing projects. They have kept isolated patients connected with loved ones, and funded research into Long Covid. They have also funded thousands of emergency first responder volunteers to help take pressure off a stretched ambulance service.
In total last year, NHS Charities Together allocated over £110 million to its member charities, with £42 million made available to meet urgent needs, £33 million to support projects in the community, and a further £35 million to support the recovery of the NHS. Funds continue to be allocated this year to reach the places they are most needed.
But the NHS still needs us more than ever, to help support the fatigued workforce, the ongoing challenges of tackling Covid 19 and increases in other conditions that now need treatment.
Introducing the annual report, Ian Lush OBE, NHS Charities Together’s Chair, said:
“It’s been an incredibly challenging 18 months for us all with the journey we have been on as a nation and global community. The support from the public during this time has been heartfelt, and people really wanted to do their bit to support the NHS to help it cope with this unprecedented situation. Hundreds of thousands of people got behind the NHS, from clapping on doorsteps to donating to our ‘One million claps’ campaign, or setting their own challenges to walk, to run, to sky dive, or to bake.
“In total we raised an unbelievable £150 million pounds, the vast majority of which has already been allocated the length and breadth of the UK through every one of our 240 member NHS charities, helping patients, staff and volunteers at this really difficult time. We are so grateful to everyone who has enabled this to happen – our amazing individual and corporate supporters. Together you have made a huge difference to NHS patients and staff.”
Ellie Orton OBE, Chief Executive of NHS Charities Together, said:
“Back in March 2020, as the pandemic began to escalate, there was a phenomenal outpouring of support from the UK public for the NHS, and we still feel completely blown away by their generosity. Despite how heart-breaking this time was for all of us, people wanted to show their gratitude and show how much the sacrifices of NHS staff meant.
“We feel so fortunate to have been able to support NHS staff, patients and volunteers at this difficult time and make such a difference across the whole UK. But we are now facing a long period of recovery, with a significant toll on exhausted workers, a backlog of patients, and clinics that are busier than ever. NHS staff are continuing to be there for us despite the ongoing challenges, but we must continue to be there for them in the long term.”
NHS Charities Together is an independent national charity officially partnered with the NHS. In normal times the 240 NHS charities we represent across the UK donate nearly £1 million every day to help the NHS do more than would otherwise be possible. These funds help the NHS go further – to fund the extras that can’t otherwise be covered by the core government budget, from upgraded specialist equipment and state-of-the-art technology and investment in research through to well-being support for staff and patients.
During Covid-19, the money we raised nationally has been focused on meeting urgent needs, on supporting staff and patients through Covid, and on the longer-term recovery of the NHS. The emphasis has been on going above and beyond what the NHS budget can ordinarily cover.
