The Brompton Fountain is the children’s charity at Royal Brompton Hospital. The charity supports the treatment and care of seriously ill children at the hospital and works closely with the hospital’s paediatric teams. Pupils at Danes Hill school embarked on an exciting day of fundraising for the charity and raised a spectacular £3774.80.
On the final day of the Spring half term, school children at Danes Hill School, a Prep school in Surrey, took part in their annual Charities Day raising money for the Brompton Fountain. At the start of the term, representatives from the charity visited the school, including Laura, the Royal Brompton Hospital’s Family Liaison Officer and Kate from the Family Support Team. They introduced themselves and told pupils about the life-changing work of the charity. The charity provides a wide range of vital resources and services as well as funding medical equipment and improvements to the hospital facilities. The team have first-hand experience of caring for a child with a serious illness so they can provide comprehensive support. Many of their patients have chronic conditions and will require frequent admissions and often long stays in hospital for surgery and on-going treatment for the rest of their lives.
The annual Danes Hill School Charities Day is an opportunity for the children, teachers, and parents to come together as a community to raise money and awareness for local charities and their invaluable work. The Danes Hill children set up fundraising stalls in their classrooms and the school community ventured out around the school to spend their pocket money on hook a duck, Wordle challenges, find the golden carrot and much more. Alongside the children’s amazing efforts to host exciting stalls, the staff got involved in a fitness challenge which raised an exceptional amount of money for the charity, they ran, jogged, walked, and cycled 173.15km in total. One of the pupils exclaimed, ‘Charities Day is better than a day off school!’.
The charity relies on its fantastic supporters who fundraise to help them make a difference and improve the patient experience at Royal Brompton Hospital. Their aim is to improve the quality of life and environment for young patients in hospital and at home and make a difference when it is needed most. Maxine Shaw, Head at Danes Hill School said, ‘It was wonderful to welcome representatives from the Brompton Fountain charity, giving an opportunity for pupils and staff to witness first-hand, the impact our fundraising will have on the hospital and the children. We aim to foster in every pupil an understanding of the challenges that children and families can face through no fault of their own. Through this understanding will come a willingness to give their own time and money to support those who need help the most. I was delighted to see the efforts of the school community as they came together to raise so much money for such a worthy cause.’