Fundraising event held for first-of-its-kind Health and Wellbeing Hub at Chesterfield Royal Hospital

Labelled ‘A Night Under the Rainbow’, the themed event at Chatsworth House provided an opportunity to find out more about the charity and the appeal to raise funds for a first-of-its-kind Health and Wellbeing Hub to be built at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

Business and community leaders from across the region were in attendance for the evening, during which it was revealed that the campaign is already halfway towards its fundraising goal, raising £1m to date.

The Duke of Devonshire, who co-hosted and funded the event, and Beverley Webster OBE, Chair of the Charity Development Board, both spoke at the event while Critical Care Matrons, Maxine Hardy and Natalie Cooper-Hatch talked about the personal impact of the pandemic and how the Hub will be vital for supporting colleagues in the future.

Webster the Duck – the eight-foot charity mascot – was also star of the show alongside Nicola Mounsley, who was a nurse at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and sadly lost her husband, Ian, to Covid in March 2021 aged 51.

Ken Godber, Director of Chesterfield Royal Hospital Charity, said: “The idea of a separate Hub has been in mine and the previous Chair’s mind for a number of years but the pandemic has brought it to a head.

"It’s really a protective space for staff and from my own personal point of view, I have a real concern about the impact the last few years is going to have on the staff and our biggest concern is when that impact will kick in. Like a lot of these things, the emotion hits when you get a bit of down time and can reflect.

"Clearly they’ve come out their pandemic work and they’re now into more Covid work but also trying to catch up on what they’ve not been doing so I worry about when it will kick it.

"So, at least hopefully when it does, we’ll have the Hub there ready for the staff.

"For us it’s a real landmark and we think we’re one of the first, if not the first in the country, to build this on site.

"The other exciting thing is that we’ve got a big linking through Westfield Health, the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre in Sheffield and Sheffield University.

"They’re going to do a research project to evaluate the outcomes of it so that hopefully in a few years time, we’ll have the thing built and will have been using it for a few years and we’ll have some real data on the benefit it has created for the workforce.

The Hub aims to offer all those working at the hospital from porters to radiologists, physiotherapists to cooks, financial accountants to receptionists, a haven to look after their health and wellbeing.

It would include counselling rooms and complimentary therapies as well as areas for group and individual reflections after traumatic incidents. There is a proposed gym and multi-use games area too.

The facility is hoping to open in Spring 2023 and Chesterfield Royal Hospital Charity is appealing for people, groups, teams and businesses to fundraise and support the project.

Donations can be made through the Trust website or the Chesterfield Royal Hospital Charity JustGiving page.

For other ways to get involved, whether as a business or an individual, email: [email protected]