Thank you from your hospital charity
fundraising help thousands of patients and colleagues across South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire, funding lifechanging projects for your local hospitals.
Your support helps colleagues like Stacey.
Stacey is the Ward Manager for the Children’s Outpatients Department at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. She submitted a funding request to our charity to develop a new multi-sensory room to support patients with additional needs, including children with autism, cerebral palsy and visual impairments.
environment for children and young people when attending vital appointments. The room will also be used for physiotherapy sessions, calming needle phobic children, or, when not in use, for staff to take a brief break in a relaxing environment.
This wonderful sensory room has been made possible with thanks to the donations we receive from incredible people like you. Thank you so much for helping us make a huge difference to children and young people across South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire.
You can find out more about this wonderful new sensory room on pages 6-7.
Donations come into Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity from our wonderful community.
Colleagues across DBTH apply for funding through our charity focusing on projects suchas staff welfare programmes, patient and staff amenities, research and development or improvements to hospital environments.
With the support of our colleagues, we reinvest donations in amazing projects across DBTH, where it’s needed, when it’s needed most.
Together, we help DBTH to go further for those who need us now and the generations to come.
Contents
Page 4
About your hospitals charity
Page 5
The difference you make
Pages 6-7
A brand new sensory room for Doncaster Royal Infirmary
Page 8
Celebrating £15,000 raised with Albemarle Homes
Page 9
Fundraising Hall of Fame
Page 10
Thrill-seekers take on the The Big DRI Abseil
Page 11
Support your local hospitals charity
Get in touch
Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity
Communications & Engagement Office
Doncaster Royal Infirmary
Thorne Road
DN2 5LT
Tel: 01302 648 282
Email: dbth.charity@nhs.net
Web: www.dbthcharity.co.uk
Follow us on: DBTHCharity
Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity
About Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serve a population of more than 440,000 across South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire, and surrounding areas.
The Trust delivers high-quality healthcare services through its main hospital sites –Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Bassetlaw Hospital and Montagu Hospital – as well as a number of smaller clinics.
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals
Charity works closely with the Trust to support the trust vision - healthier together – delivering exceptional care for all.
Together with our supporters, we ensure that the ongoing needs of our hospitals, and communities, are met by going over and above what the NHS can provide alone.
The support you give us enables us to fund things like:
Patient and staff amenities
Staff welfare programmes
Research and development
Improvements to hospital environments
Specialist medical equipment
With your help, we can continue to make a difference, be healthier together and deliver exceptional care for all.
The difference you make
(£40,000)
Thanks to a large volume of donations to our Medical Day Unit at Bassetlaw Hospital, we have been able to fund an impressive and much needed transformation to the unit improving the overall experience and environment for patients. From more comfortable chairs, to home comforts like televisions, to a dedicated waiting area to families to wait for their loved ones.
(£207)
Your donations funded a range of Christmas presents for children and young people with additional needs who visit our Children’s Outpatients Department. This enabled our hard-working play leaders to pick gifts that would be suitable for each child.
(£6,067)
The Emergency Department can be a frightening place for anyone, but for children and young people with neurological disorders or additional needs, it can be incredibly overwhelming. To help, we funded the Rhino Sensory Voyager cart. This special piece of equipment provides a range of sensory based experiences using light, sound and touch. This mobile piece of kit will be used by colleagues to visit different bed bays and the waiting room.
(£3,517)
Within our South Block at Doncaster Royal Infirmary we have a number of consultation rooms which are sometimes used to deliver sensitive news and discuss treatment plans. To help create a calming environment and provide better lighting, we’ve funded beautiful ceiling lights with cherry blossom designs and artwork on the walls which has been made possible thanks to people like you.
The difference you make - £14,000 sensory room to transform care for children with additional needs
Thanks to the amazing support we receive from our communities, Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity has been able to invest £14,245 into a wonderful new sensory room for the Children’s Outpatients Department (OPD) at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
This brand new room will support children and young people with cerebral palsy, autism and visual impairments providing a range of specialist equipment including a kaleido projector, fibre optic curtain and a colourful bubbling water tube.
Stacey Nelson, Senior Sister for Children’s OPD, said: “This project will help us massively to support our patients with additional needs.”
Amongst the long list of benefits to patients are developing communication to encourage vocalisation, improving balance and spatial orientation and for children with visual impairments, strengthening their eyes.
Charlotte, whose daughter has cerebral palsy and has attended the department’s
Early Skills group since 2023, explained how the room has made a huge difference to her daughter’s ability to play.
Charlotte said: “We love the sensory room. The lights really help her relax which then allows me to get her in good postural positions.
“It is absolutely brilliant for my daughter and her needs. Her face lights up as she really enjoys it.”
The room will also be used for physiotherapy sessions, calming needle phobic children, or, when not in use, for staff to take a brief break in a relaxing environment.
Stacey said: “The opening of our sensory room marks the return of a vital provision within the department and the hospital.
“Young patients now have access to a calming space that they can associate with trips to the hospital, making their visits less anxiety-inducing or stressful.”
Since the closing of the previous sensory room due to COVID restrictions and
unsuitable equipment, staff were unable to offer a relaxing sensory space to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) patients and those within the Early Skills group.
In its new location, there is also the opportunity to bring children with complex medical needs to the room – something that was not viable in its previous location, Stacey explained.
Nadesha, whose 3-yearold also has cerebral palsy and attends the department regularly, is particularly fond of the fibre optic curtain.
Nadesha said: “My daughter just absolutely loves it and she is much more active in there. “It is a beautiful sensory room.”
Jill Hynes, Nursery Nurse within Children’s OPD said: “The room works brilliantly to adapt to the needs of the child using it.
“It also makes for great bonding time for parents and children.”
Teams within Children’s OPD, Therapy Services and Speech & Language will all use the room to support SEND patients.
Stacey said: “From start to finish, the project took around a year to complete and it has really brought us together as a team.”
Alongside support from Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity, the team helped raise funds to make the room possible through a skydive, a bake sale and a raffle.
Former staff member Sharon Allen donated £1,270 to the project, honouring her late brotherin-law Peter’s wish for all funeral donations to fund department equipment.
The room comes with lots of adaptable features, such as music and light isolation or customisation.
Stacey continued: “Everyone has been so supportive and there has been a clear boost in team morale.”
Having the room as a tool will help staff feel fulfilled in their role, Stacey explained.
Stacey said: “Staff can utilise their enhanced skillset here and we hope this will improve their sense of worth, job satisfaction and provide the resources they need to do what they do best.”
Doncaster & Bassetlaw
Teaching Hospitals Charity is now looking to support another sensory room for the Children’s Ward at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and has also recently funded a range of equipment through the Bassetlaw Hospital Emergency Village Appeal for the Children’s Unit at Bassetlaw Hospital.
These projects are only possible thanks to your support. We are deeply grateful to everyone who donated—your generosity will impact thousands of children each year.
Celebrating £15,000 donated by local house builder, Albemarle Homes
Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity is delighted to celebrate alongside Doncaster housebuilder, Albemarle Homes, the success of our ongoing partnership raising over £15,000 to date.
In 2021, the charity and house builder launched a strategic partnership which sees Albemarle Homes donate £100 for every home sold at its Westmoor Grange development in Armthorpe and the now completed Vicarage Fields development in Beckingham.
In return, the charity supports with promoting their fantastic key worker discount which has supported in the sale of a number of homes across both developments.
The partnership has made a huge difference, helping to fund vital projects across our hospitals that make a real difference to patients and their families.
Darryl Barker, Managing Director of Albemarle Homes, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with how well our partnership with NHS Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity has worked. To have raised £15,300 is a fantastic achievement, and it’s amazing to see the real impact these funds have had.”
The money raised has helped to support specific projects such as the Serenity Suite at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and children’s playground at Bassetlaw Hospital.
The ongoing commitment by Albemarle Homes will ensure that the Charity has funds to continue larger scale projects within the Trust.
Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals relies on partnerships such as this and is always looking for ways to work with other businesses across South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire. For more information or to discuss a potential opportunity, please contact our Charity Team on dbth.charity@nhs.net.
Fundraising Hall of Fame
Norbridge Academy raised a fantastic £7,500 to support families facing the heartache of baby loss. The primary school, based in Worksop, held their ‘Sprint to the Stars and Moon’ event which saw pupils from nursery up to age 11 taking part in a sponsored sprint around the school field.
A wonderful Doncaster family donated £560 in memory of their wonderful Mum, Mary. This generous donation will support the Palliative Care Team at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
David Westwood took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks, raising an incredible £931 for the Neonatal Department at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
Dr Shahdan raised a fantastic £544 as part of our first ever Doncaster 10k team and was the top fundraiser. Collectively, over 20 individuals took part raising an incredible £3231 for Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity.
Thank you to everyone who raises money for us and supports our hospitals, you are all amazing!
over £11,800 for Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity
On Saturday 14th March, an inspiring group of 35 fundraisers took part in our first ever sponsored abseil, abseiling over 160 feet from a twin crane at Doncaster Royal Infirmary all in aid of their local hospitals charity, raising an incredible £11,844 in the process.
This exhilarating event, organised by Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity with the help of Big Bang Experiences, saw individual participants and teams from across the hospital and our local community,
come together to raise funds for areas of the hospital that mean the most to them.
Our fabulous teams included the Gresley Unit, Children’s Ward, Neonatal Unit, and International Students.
The funds raised will support projects that
enhance patient care and experience across DBTH. Colleagues from the Gresley Unit, which cares for elderly patients at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, were the largest team on the day with nine members.
The team raised an impressive £2,821 and will use the funds to enhance patient care and experience across their three wards: Mallard, Kingfisher and Kestrel.
The event’s individual top fundraiser, Andrea Butcher, raised an outstanding £1,050.
Check out our upcoming events here:
Yorkshire Three Peaks –Saturday 14th June – Join us to take on the highest three peaks in Yorkshire in aid of your hospital charity.
NHS Big Tea – Saturday 5th July – Join the nation’s favourite tea party to help celebrate the 77th Birthday of your NHS in support of your local hospital.
Skydives – Take the leap of faith on either Saturday 19th July or Saturday 18th October at Skydive Hibaldstow.
The Big DRI Abseil – Saturday 20th September – Will you pledge to go over the edge for your hospitals charity?
Doncaster 10k – Sunday 30th November - Join Team DBTH at the Doncaster 10k.
For more information, or to register for one of our events, please visit: www.dbthcharity.co.uk/get-involved/.
Fundraise
There are so many ways you can fundraise for your local hospitals. At home, in work, as a group or with your friends and family. From a bake sale, to running a marathon, everything you do no matter how big or small makes a difference.
Need some ideas? You can find out more about our upcoming events and activities here: www.dbthcharity.co.uk/get-involved/.
Donate
Give a one off donation or donate little and often. Donating £10 a month really does make a huge difference as it helps us fund projects across Doncaster &
Charity Address
Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity
Communications & Engagement Office, Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Doncaster, Thorne Road, DN2 5LT
Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, where it’s needed most.
Partnerships
Together, we can do so much more for our communities and joining us as a charity through your business is a great way to show your support. Whether it’s through a strategic partnership, charity of the year, or making a donation, we love to work alongside our local businesses to make an impact.
Leave a legacy
Leaving a gift in your will is a wonderful way to support your hospitals. For support or more information on how your gift could help, please contact our Charity Team.
Telephone: 01302 648 282
Email: dbth.charity@nhs.net Follow us on DBTHCharity
Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity
Thank you for helping us make a difference to your local hospitals
Your next issue of The Difference will arrive in November 2025
