Fundraisers hope new Cambridge children's hospital will be 'world-leading'
A campaign has raised more than half of its ÂŁ100 million target
Campaigners behind a fundraiser to build a new children's hospital in Cambridge hope the facility will be recognised around the world.
So far, ÂŁ56 million of the ÂŁ100m target has been raised towards the project to build what would be the first hospital of its kind in the East of England.
The project had already received ÂŁ100m from the government in 2018 and four years later, the hospital won planning permission.
More than 40 donors have helped the fundraising campaign, a partnership between Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, Head to Toe Charity and the University of Cambridge, reach its current total within the two years it's been running.
Dame Mary Archer is co-chair of the Cambridge Children's Hospital fundraising campaign:
"We want to build a children's hospital that is world-leading, particularly in treating a whole child with mind and body together," she said.
"We are still talking to some potential major donors, so I am confident we will achieve that target.
"It's about spreading the knowledge of the hospital; a lot of people don't know about it because we hadn't gone public but now we have, and so it's about letting people know what a wonderful hospital this will be."
Building work due to start next year
In September, an outline business case for the children's hospital was approved in principle by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, before it got the go-ahead to work on a full business case for the project.
This approval is subject to review of the project's capital funding in April 2024.
Pre-construction works for the hospital, located opposite the Rosie Maternity Hospital in Cambridge, are due to start early next year with full construction to begin in 2025.
As well as Dame Mary Archer, the fundraising campaign is co-chaired by Majid Jafar, a Cambridge alumnus and supporter of medical research.
Mr Jafar said he and his family will donate ÂŁ20m to the campaign after their experiences with their daughter who lives with a rare neurogenetic disorder.
They also dedicated ÂŁ10m towards the hospital's new research institute.
Roland Sinker, chief executive of Cambridge University Hospitals, said: "The campaign’s £100m target makes Cambridge Children’s Hospital one of the most philanthropically ambitious capital projects of this nature in the country today."
New hospital will be 'less intimidating' for children, says parent
Clare Mellor's son Edward was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after she noticed him feeling very thirsty, and coeliac disease earlier this year.
Edward, 9, has been weekly appointments at Addenbrooke's Hospital before moving onto monthly consultant visits and has recently returned following his Coeliac Disease diagnosis.
She believes the new children's hospital will benefit them:
"I think it will offer a more holistic approach, so being bale to look at the mental health and wellbeing aspects of being diagnosed with something like type 1 diabetes and how that care can be integrated alongside the physical care," she said.
"Just having a bespoke children's hospital will mean going into hospital will be a less intimidating experience for a child because you're going somewhere that's set up for children."