Major award to Southampton Hospital Charity's Red & White Appeal

The Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund, established in 1984 under the will of the late James Sainsbury CBE, has made an award to Southampton Hospital Charity's Red & White Appeal| of £250,000 for the Day Case Unit.

The appeal, which has been named Red & White in recognition of the particular significance of red and white blood cells for haematology patients, aims to raise £2.2 million to create the transplant treatment centre of choice for patients with leukaemia and other blood disorders from Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire, Dorset, West Sussex and the Channel Islands.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust has secured £5million from the Department of Health, and this, in addition to the Trust's own resources, will fund a brand new extension to the hospital to house new beds for haematology patients who need a bone marrow transplant, as well as a reconfiguration and modernisation of the current ward area. This new unit will offer a pioneering service for patients who undergo chemotherapy, radiotherapy and bone marrow transplants to treat cancers of the blood.

The extension will enable the hospital to increase its capacity from 19 to 28 beds and as patients often have to stay in hospital for many months, the development of more single rooms with private bathrooms and views to the outside world, will be of huge benefit to both patients and their relatives.

However, this is as far as the money stretches, so Southampton Hospital Charity is aiming to raise an additional £2.2million to fund a new specially designed Day Case Unit for patients, which will be built next to the current inpatient facilities and the new extension.

Appeal Chairman, Richard Brazier said, "We are so thrilled to have received such a generous grant from The Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund. This has given the appeal a terrific boost, but we need everyone's help to make the project a reality, together we can do it!"

For further information about Appeal and to make a donation today, please call 023 8079 8881.