Thanks to a local charitable trust, the Forever Friends Appeal has received a massive £100,000 boost towards one of their Special Appeals, benefitting patients at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.
The Forever Friends Appeal is raising a minimum of £250,000 to help fund the new RUH Facial Surgery and Orthodontics department, which is being relocated to a different part of the hospital to enable the building of the new Dyson Centre Cancer.
The new unit will be modern, bright and have a therapeutic environment for patients being treated for conditions of the face, head, mouth and jaw.
Peter Medlock, from the Medlock Charitable Trust said: “As a less known but very important cause, we wanted to get behind the Facial Surgery and Orthodontics Special Appeal and give it a boost – so we will match-fund donations up to the value of £100,000 – once an initial £50,000 has been raised for this department.
“We want to help ensure the charity exceeds its fundraising target to make a greater difference for patients.”
Each year, around 10,000 new patients are treated by staff in the Facial Surgery and Orthodontics Department.
They treat patients with complex medical problems such as facial skin cancer, traumatic facial injuries, facial deformity, oral surgery, and orthodontics.
The relocation of the department will ensure that the maxillofacial (head and neck) surgeons can work seamlessly alongside specialists in other fields – such as ear, nose and throat surgeons, clinical oncologists, restorative dentists, and radiologists.
It will have modern, enhanced and well-equipped surroundings and the use of natural light, colours and art will help improve patient wellbeing.
By incorporating elements that have a tangible effect on healing and providing increased privacy, patients will feel calm when facing what can be a stressful time for them.
The new Facial Surgery and Orthodontics Department will continue to bridge the gap between medicine and dentistry. It is unique compared with other district general hospitals, as the RUH offers specialist paediatric dentistry and orthodontics assessments on the same day – giving extra support and care to children and their families.
Tim Hobbs, Head of Fundraising, The Forever Friends Appeal said: “We are very grateful to the Medlock family and their Trust for this support.
“Whether the public and our supporters can donate now or perhaps in a few weeks’ time over the Christmas period, they will be directly helping to unlock £100,000 for this vital project that cares for some of our most vulnerable patients who can face really difficult conditions affecting the head and neck such as cancer.”
“To promote the match-funding scheme, we’re calling it the ‘Space to Smile’ initiative – if people have experienced or seen the tremendous treatment and care given by staff in this department, we hope that the incentive of seeing their donations doubled will really encourage people to help us.”
To donate to the £250,000 fundraising target, visit: www.foreverfriendsappeal.co.uk.
