Director and Co-founder of The Grand Appeal.
The Grand Appeal is the dedicated charity for Bristol Children’s Hospital. As part of our commitment to ensuring the hospital remains at the forefront of children’s healthcare, we are creating a pioneering facility that will be the first of its kind in the UK.
Jingle Jam Building will offer accommodation and treatment facilities all under one roof.
Over 100,000 children from the South West and South Wales visit Bristol Children’s Hospital every year. Imagine arriving in Bristol, an unfamiliar city, with nowhere to go while your child needs life-saving care. With Bristol Children’s Hospital serving the whole city region and often further afield – the largest geographical area of any children’s hospital in England – this is the reality for many families that pass through its doors.
Some stay for days, but many stay for weeks or even months. Jingle Jam Building will mean these families can be together during the last steps of their child’s recovery before they return home.
This unique development will improve the care of young patients undergoing different treatments, such as
- Children who need long-term rehabilitation and/or therapy after an accident or major surgery
- Children who need rehabilitation after brain surgery or a brain injury
- Children under the care of the Orthopaedic team who treat bone, joint, ligament, tendon, and muscle disorders
- Children treated for chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis
- Children working with hospital dietitians or who need specialist diets
- Children who have cystic fibrosis
It will also increase resource, and capacity and enhance the incredible work of the talented doctors, nurses, and staff at Bristol Children’s Hospital. The building is currently in the planning stage and will be based near the hospital.
This project is only possible thanks to the support of Jingle Jam. Jingle Jam is the brainchild of Bristol-based gaming company, The Yogscast. This epic event is the world’s biggest gaming charity fundraiser, which brings together the gaming community each December to raise millions for good causes, including The Grand Appeal. We’re proud to have worked in partnership with our fellow Bristolians at The Yogscast since 2017.
Founded in 1995, The Grand Appeal works in partnership with Bristol Children’s Hospital to run a multi-million-pound portfolio of investment.
It’s where babies, children, and young people with highly complex medical conditions – from rare genetic disorders, neurological conditions and congenital heart disease to traumatic injuries, cancer, and kidney disease – are all cared for around the clock.
Just like Bristol, the hospital is a hub of innovation, where these experts create a brighter future for sick children every day through a vast network of research projects with international impact. So much so that Bristol Children’s Hospital has been recognised in the world’s top 14 children’s hospitals (Newsweek, 2021).
It’s thanks to The Grand Appeal’s partnership with the hospital and our friends at Aardman, that Bristol Children’s Hospital is a pioneer in so many fields today. That partnership is only made possible through fundraising – in all its fantastic forms – by people with one thing in common: the drive to change the lives of seriously ill children and their families.
That vision that we all share has never been more critical. The incredible advancements in medicine that the last two decades have brought about mean that more and more children are living with increasingly complex conditions and will rely on hospital services throughout their lives. Our goal is not just that they survive; but that they thrive.
Underpinned by economic uncertainty, children’s hospitals now rely on innovative technology, science and models of care – like Jingle Jam Building – and, of course, on the comprehensive support of charities like The Grand Appeal.
Jingle Jam Building is just one of the ways we make your children’s hospital the very best it can be.