St John's College School raises £600 for Cambridge Children's Hospital

Mr Patrick Hawke-Smith (Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust (ACT)) visited St John's College School and was presented with a cheque for £600 on behalf of the Cambridge Children's Hospital.

In the Senior School House Assembly, Mr Hawke-Smith explained that the campaign for this hospital, announced in March 2021, brings together ACT , Head to Toe Charity, and the University of Cambridge. Together, they have committed to raise £100 million from philanthropy and fundraising by 2025 to make the plans a reality. The money presented was raised at Year 6's Victorian Fayre last term and more will hopefully be raised when Year 7 perform their production of Jungle Book in March.

The children heard that the Cambridge Children's Hospital will be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus to the south of the city and it will bring together children's mental and physical health services under one roof as a way of treating the 'whole child'. The eastern region is currently the only one in England not to have a hospital dedicated to the care of children. The hospital will care for children and young people from Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as Cambridgeshire.

Mr Hawke-Smith told the children: "The staff at the hospital will be dual trained in mental and physical healthcare, giving them the skills and support they need to treat everything a child may be going through - whether that is visible or not."

The hospital's goal is to develop a joined-up model of care that fully integrates physical and mental health, and combines with research into prevention and early diagnosis of diseases to provide the very best care for children and young people aged 0-19, including those with cancer.

As Mr Hawke-Smith explained: "The hospital is a purposefully designed building and is being co-designed with the help of young people, families and healthcare professionals. Wherever possible facilities will be jointly integrated, recognising the fact that many children and young people with mental health conditions also have a physical health condition, and vice versa. This will enable our staff to provide better and safer, age-appropriate care in high quality, fit for purpose facilities that meet the needs of children, young people and families."

He also showed the children the architect's images of what the interior and exterior of the hospital would look like.

Representatives from St John's Charities Committee presented the 'big' cheque to Mr Hawke-Smith and all the children had the chance to pose questions about the hospital during and after the Assembly, with questions ranging from 'how much money will it cost to build?', 'who will manage the hospital?', 'how will it be different from a general hospital for adults?' to 'is it an NHS or a privately-funded hospital?' and 'are there play spaces for the children visiting?'.

After his visit, Mr Hawke-Smith remarked: "It was lovely to have such a warm welcome to SJCS and to meet so many enthusiastic people of all ages. I took away huge inspiration myself from the interest in and support for Cambridge Children’s Hospital, especially amongst the pupils.'