Rosie and Hinchingbrooke hospitals each receive £2000 from Xaar charity fund

The Rosie Hospital, Cambridge, and Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon are two charities benefitting this year from Xaar’s £12,000 charitable giving fund.

Employees of Xaar plc, which has facilities on the Cambridge Science Park and in Huntingdon, have voted to donate £2,000 to each local charity, and also to give £2,000 each to national charities: The Soldiers’ Charity and the British Heart Foundation.

The Rosie Hospital has recently opened a new purpose-built maternity facility on its Hills Road site. Hinchingbrooke is currently raising funds to extend the hospital’s Woodlands Centre, which supports patients diagnosed with cancer.

Anna Shasha, Head of Midwifery at the Rosie, said: “It is a massive morale boost for all the midwives, doctors, nurses and ancillary staff here to know that there is such overwhelming local support. As one of the region’s busiest maternity hospitals, our facilities have been under huge pressure in recent years. That’s why every penny raised continues to help ensure we can offer the best possible care to more women, new-borns and their families. Thank you Xaar. ”

Xaar established the fund in 2012 to ensure the company’s charitable giving reflected employees’ wishes.  All employees in Cambridge and Huntingdon, and at Xaar’s manufacturing plant in Sweden, can vote for charities that either provide benefits locally or have specific connections to them or their families.  This year the Swedish vote went to the Swedish Cancer Society and the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation.

Cambridge:

• Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk/rosie) raises funds to support the development of Cambridge’s renowned and much-loved Rosie maternity hospital.  The new Rosie, opened in 2012, is a purpose-built, three-storey facility that puts patient care at the heart of a greatly expanded women’s health and maternity service.
• The British Heart Foundation (www.bhf.org.uk) is the UK’s number one heart charity and through 50 years of funding cutting edge research has already made a big difference to people’s lives.  The BHF funds thousands of research projects around the UK to fight heart disease, as well as helps millions of people every year with up-to-date information about heart disease.

Huntingdon:

• Hinchingbrooke Hospital (www.hinchingbrooke.nhs.uk) is a forward-thinking, friendly, efficient, safe and clean hospital, providing quality health care for the people of Huntingdonshire and surrounding areas — a population of over 160,000 people.  The hospital has 266 beds, including 24 specifically for day cases.
• The Soldiers’ Charity (www.soldierscharity.org) provides financial assistance to all soldiers and their families when in need.  The scope of the charity’s work is huge.  Half of its funds are given direct to individuals to help in areas such as debt relief, mobility assistance, education bursaries, care home fees and respite breaks.  The other half is given as grants to other charities.

Järfälla:

• Seven childhood cancer associations are members of the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation (www.barncancerfonden.se), which acts to promote co-operation and co-ordination between these associations.  The Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation is a non-profit association financed by donations and bequests. The Foundation receives no financial support from the state, county councils or municipalities.
• The Swedish Cancer Society (www.cancerfonden.se) — the single largest financer of cancer research in Sweden — is an independent non-profit organisation with the vision of finding cures for cancer. The overall aim of the Society is to achieve a higher survival rate and a reduction in the incidence of cancer.  Its main task is to raise and distribute money for cancer research.