Campaign fronted by Broseley tot needs £300,000 to reach £2 million target
A campaign which is being fronted by a Shropshire youngster is now close to its £2 million target.
Arlo Watson, of Broseley, was chosen as the face of the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Critical Journeys Appeal, to kit out four ambulance vehicles.
The appeal has just £300,000 left to meet its target and people are being encouraged to give what they can.
Launched last year, it will directly benefit more than 2,000 critically sick babies, children and young people who have to use the critical care KIDS/NTS ambulance service every year.
Once the target has been hit, the charity will be able to kit out its fleet of four critical care ambulances with the same specialist equipment patients have access to on the hospital’s intensive care unit – meaning they have a better chance of survival as treatment is instant.
The critical appeal will remove the need for ambulances to divert back to Birmingham Children’s Hospital to pick up vital pieces of equipment resulting in better care and outcomes for critically ill babies and children.
Emma Bull, lead nurse at KIDS/NTS, said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported our Critical Journeys Appeal so far. This much-needed appeal will help us to kit out our ambulances and upgrade our equipment, enabling us to be response-ready at all times.
"In turn, this will allow us to move more patients with the same level of specialist equipment used in intensive care, making sure we can get our patients to the right place, at the right time for the right treatment.”
Thanks to a phenomenal donation of £1 million from the Denise Coates Foundation in April, the appeal has raised £1.7 million in just 12 months.
Arlo Watson, who became the face of the appeal, was born in December 2016, four months early.
He weighed just 755 grams, around one and a half pounds, and had to be transferred between hospitals by the KIDS/NTS team.
He spent almost 200 days in different hospitals before he finally came home.
Visit bch.org.uk/criticaljourneys, email fundraising@bch.org.uk or call 0121 333 8506 to find out how you can support the appeal.
