Lions are a roaring success for hospital charity

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) has received two generous donations from The West Norwich and Taverham Lions Club. Last night, Martin Langdon and colleagues from the West Norwich and Taverham Lions presented two cheques to the hospital.

The club has supported the NNUH’s charity in two very different ways. In April, they organised a Horse Racing Night at the hospital to benefit cancer patients at NNUH as part of the hospital’s Targeted Radiotherapy Appeal. Over 120 people took part in the evening raising over £1,800. Serco also generously sponsored the food for the event.

Chris Paul from Serco, said: “We were delighted to support the Lions by providing all the food and other help for the Race Night at the hospital. We are fully behind the hospital charity’s Targeted Radiotherapy Appeal and were pleased to hold such a fun social event in the hospital restaurant.”

In addition to this, the Lions have funded two iPads for the Speech and Language department who work on the hospital’s stroke unit. These will be used by staff to demonstrate to stroke patients and their families the different software which can be purchased for use at home, to aid and improve communication between patients and families after the patient has been discharged.

Martin Langdon, from the West Norwich and Taverham Lions, said: “The hospital charity can make a real difference to patients and we were delighted to support two very different areas of the charity – cancer, because it affects so many people and we could benefit from the new facilities at the hospital, and the stroke unit. To show relatives how to use simple technology like an iPad so they can communicate with their loved ones when they are at home is incredible. We are very proud to support such a local cause.”

Louise Cook, fundraising manager at NNUH, said: “We’re extremely grateful to the Lions for all their support of the hospital charity. Both the money raised for the TRA and the new iPads will really help us to provide the very best care for local patients and their families.”

For further information about NNUH and to find out how to support the charity, please call 01603 287107 or visit www.nnuh.nhs.uk

About the Targeted Radiotherapy Appeal:

The TRA was launched in October 2012 with the aim of raising £600,000 to provide a new radiotherapy service for cancer patients, known as high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy. The money raised through the TRA will be used to provide state-of-the-art facilities within the Colney Centre for people undergoing brachytherapy.

The new facilities will mean NNUH will become one of just a handful of hospitals in the country offering HDR prostate brachytherapy. The new facilities will allow more patients to benefit from reduced treatment times and also means some patients can be treated closer to home.