The Charity Committee has reviewed our grant-making priorities for 2023-2024, and our new strategy can be summarised under six key themes:
- Meeting our obligations – We are keen to complete current obligations, such as the £695,000 super scanner appeal, as well as meeting our ongoing ones including the Stars of Herts Awards and Raise a Smile Christmas appeal.
- Spending our restricted (‘ear-marked’) funds – We have a number of restricted funds thanks to donations raised in the past. We are working with the relevant departments to see how those funds can be put to best use to support patient care.
- Raising unrestricted funds – We are proactively trying to increase our unrestricted funds (ie: those which are not ‘ear-marked’) so we can be flexible and respond to needs wherever and whenever they arise in the hospitals. To do this we are launching our West Herts Hospitals Appeal, launching a new lottery and a regular giving programme, as well as raising the charity’s profile across our sites.
- Fundraising for targeted appeals – We are running a series of fundraising appeals. The first of these is the TLC Appeal for equipment and comforts for frail patients – particularly those with dementia.
- Supporting fundraisers – We know that staff, patients and members of the community are often keen to fundraise to support new initiatives, even if they fall outside of our current priorities. We are delighted to support those efforts and are on hand with fundraising advice, support and plenty of encouragement along the way. There are some great examples on our website here. We also are happy to share our fundraising pack here.
- Preparing for the future – We will work alongside the Trust’s strategy team so we have develop larger fundraising appeals to help with the Trust’s redevelopment initiatives.
It does mean that we will be less able to support unsolicited grant applications for a while, as we concentrate on our priorities. If you were hoping to make an application in the meantime, please do contact Raise’s CEO Alison Rosen and she can advise you further.