Support Poppy's Fund Today
Raising money for maternity services at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea and St Mary's hospitals.
About the Fund
Poppy’s Fund sits under Imperial Health Charity and is the official fund supporting maternity services at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea and St
Mary’s hospitals in north west London. Managed independently by the Charity, the fund
aims to ensure all families who use these services have a positive maternity
experience, while providing specialist equipment, supporting staff training and
education, and improving the hospital environment.
Poppy’s Fund was inspired by the story of Poppy Beatrice Hodgson, who was
stillborn at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea on 17 October 2017. Moved by their
experience and the extraordinary care they received, Poppy’s parents Carly and Roo
Hodgson set out to support other families facing similar heart-breaking situations as
well as those taking home healthy babies.
The fund is led by a committee, including medical professionals from the two
hospitals, representatives from Imperial Health Charity and Carly and Roo. The
committee’s role is to allocate funding to suitable projects within maternity services.
Lifestart Trolley Appeal
On a neonatal ward, the first few moments of a baby’s life can be the most crucial. When a baby is born prematurely, they may need to be hurried away for life-saving treatment – leaving parents separated from their child.
Neonatal teams face a dilemma. Delaying the cutting of the cord by just a few minutes can reduce the risk of death by as much as 30% – but when medical attention is needed urgently, there’s no time to wait.
At Poppy’s Fund we wanted to help neonatal staff provide exceptional care for premature babies at the bedside so that parents can stay close to their newborn during those vital first moments and we are thrilled to say we secured funding for two lifestart trolleys which are already making a huge difference in the hospitals and quite literally saving tiny lives.
Why Support us?
Staff work tirelessly doing their absolute best with what they have at their disposal, but the reality is that there is always more funding needed for everything required plus additional training and equipment that can have a massive impact. Your support makes a huge difference to patients and the staff on the front line.
As well as raising much needed funds, we also aim to raise awareness of the neonatal, maternity and bereavement services within the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Poppy's Fund is the main charitable fund in the area of maternity within Imperial Health Trust.
Where Your Money Goes
Towards supporting and improving the neonatal, maternity and bereavement services in the hospitals.
We work ongoing with staff across the Trust to come up areas that they feel would most benefit from the money raised by Poppy's Fund. Staff are encouraged to put forward ideas of how the funds can be spent to have the greatest impact and we are proud to say that we have funded dozens of proposals for items and training which have been put forward by staff who are on the ground in the hospitals every day.
