The Rolls-Royce SRH, hand-built for St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, returned to the Home of Rolls-Royce for one night to help launch the Love Your Hospital ‘First Fifty Club’. A new corporate fundraising initiative, the ‘First Fifty Club’ encourages businesses from across West Sussex to get their entrepreneurial thinking caps on and raise significant funds for local hospitals.
Love Your Hospital is the dedicated charity for the three hospitals that make up Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, Worthing Hospital and Southlands Hospital in Shoreham. The charity provides vital funds to support hospital projects beyond core NHS funding, including providing state-of-the-art medical equipment, improving treatment facilities for patients, supporting staff development and enhancing the hospital environment for all.
The Rolls-Royce SRH was hand-crafted for the St Richard’s Hospital Paediatric Day Surgery Unit in the marque’s home town of Chichester, West Sussex. The ‘smallest Rolls-Royce’ allows children awaiting surgery to drive themselves to the operating theatre, through the Paediatric Unit corridors which are lined with ‘traffic signs’. The experience of ‘self-drive to theatre’ aims to reduce child patient stress. Since it’s unveil in 2017, more than 1300 children have driven the Rolls‑Royce SRH to the operating theatre.
Amanda Tucker, Head of Charity, Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said, “It is a real honour that so many local businesses were able to join us at this very special venue as we launched our corporate ‘First Fifty Club’ fundraising campaign. Local corporate support is vital and ensures that Love Your Hospital can continue to make a real difference to patient experience across all three of our hospitals.”
Andrew Ball, Head of Corporate Relations, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said, “We were delighted to support Love Your Hospital with the launch of the innovative ‘First Fifty Club’ and, of course, to welcome home the Rolls-Royce SRH. The car has already brought smiles to more than 1300 children and their families at a particularly challenging time in their lives, and will continue to make the experience a little less stressful for many more young people during treatment.”
