We’re proud to have awarded more than £4.8million in our latest grant funding rounds for NHS charities to support the NHS during its most challenging time in history.
The grants will be issued to 22 NHS Charities Together member charities across the UK to fund over 85 projects supporting NHS staff and communities in meeting the immediate and long-term needs at the frontline of the NHS.
The projects funded will support patients being discharged from hospital to help take pressure off the NHS, provide funding for communities disproportionately affected by Covid and raise awareness of the importance of vaccination. The wide variety of projects will also help tackle isolation and its knock-on impact on mental health, and provide further funding for emergency response volunteers to support the ambulance service.
Supporting patients
The NHS continues to feel the strain of increased hospital admissions and it is important that patients who are well enough to leave hospital are supported when they return to the community. Our latest round of grants includes four projects dedicated to preventing readmissions and supporting patients when they return home to continue their recovery in the community.
Supporting communities
Covid has had a disproportionate impact on some communities, particularly on ethnic minorities or people with health inequalities. Our latest round of funding includes more than thirty projects supporting community engagement and social prescribing to help under-represented groups better engage with health services. Grants are also funding work to raise awareness of the importance of Covid vaccinations among particular communities.
Mental health and tackling isolation
The issue of isolation and mental health is a key area of focus in the latest round of grant funding, whether providing mental health support for NHS staff, for young people, or targeted support for groups including carers, to ensure they have access to vital help and guidance to overcome the challenges of Covid-19. Our latest grant funding round includes over twenty projects aimed at tackling isolation or mental health.
Volunteer responders
Ambulance services are also under increasing pressures and to help and we have awarded funding to four more projects as part of this latest round of grants, to train and equip a greater number of Community First Responders (CFRs). We are also proud to be funding wellbeing projects that support paramedics as they continue to work hard in the face of Covid-19 through a Staying Well Service.
Ellie Orton OBE, CEO of NHS Charities Together, said:
“NHS Charities Together is committed to supporting NHS staff, patients and volunteers who need us more than ever, as they face the ongoing impact of Covid-19 and the long-term recovery of the NHS. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity and support of the public, we are honoured to support a range of projects within the NHS and the community.”
About the NHS Charities Together Covid-19 Appeal
NHS Charities Together’s Covid-19 Appeal raised an unbelievable £150 million pounds, the vast majority of which (£125 million) 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 incredibly challenging time.
Projects funded have included bereavement support for patients, counselling and wellbeing support for staff, research into Long Covid, projects keeping isolated patients connected with loved ones, specialist equipment, and funding for thousands of emergency response volunteers.
As NHS staff face the continued challenges of Covid-19 and the backlog of cases leading to busy clinics and services, we must continue to be there for NHS workforce and patients to support the long-term recovery of the NHS.
