Hospital staff zone
This area of our website is for staff working at North Bristol NHS Trust.
We are your charity
We invest in improving healthcare for tomorrow’s generation of patients and their families.
Last year we raised £3.4 million and provided £2.4 million in funding to North Bristol NHS Trust to fund innovative healthcare.
We support projects across our four key funding areas
There are lots of ways we can work with you to provide the funding for projects and solutions to improve services for your patients.
Fundraising for your department
Please let the charity team know if you are organising any fundraising for your area.
We can help with sponsorship forms, insurance and general advice for making your event a success – a quick phone call or email is all it takes.
Staff must not accept cash donations but encourage donors to donate online via southmeadhospitalcharity.org.uk or via the cashier’s office in the atrium of the Brunel Building.
Or they can send a cheque payable to Southmead Hospital Charity to the address below, with a covering note if they would like their donation to go to a certain area.
Southmead Hospital Charity
Learning & Research Two
Southmead Hospital
Bristol BS10 5NB
Support for staff
We also fund projects which develop and support staff to help them deliver exceptional healthcare to more than 300,000 patients a year.
The Wellbeing Programme, funded by Southmead Hospital Charity, offers physical, psychological and lifestyle support including a physiotherapy assessment service, bespoke psychological support sessions, Arts on Referral and the Mental Health First Aid network.
Staff have access to a 24/7 free, confidential helpline offering counselling about financial, legal, relationships and more, provided by partner organisation Health Assured. Contact them at NBTWellbeing@nbt.nhs.uk.
The charity can also provide seed funding for new roles within the Trust over a set period of time. Professional development training may also be funded by the charity.
Your help can make all the difference
One simple thing that you can do as a member of staff at NBT is to remember that if you are asked by a patient, their friends or family how they can say thank you for their care by donating to the hospital, please encourage them to talk to Southmead Hospital Charity about how they can support the hospital, ward or department.
By sharing our work and making a connection between grateful patients and their families, you can really make a huge difference.
Please wear our Southmead Hospital Charity badges and lanyards to raise awareness of your hospital charity. Get in touch with us to get yours.
Sharing our impact
If we have already funded something in your department, please make sure that the charity is acknowledge in any publicity or posts on social media.
You can find us across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – just search Southmead Hospital Charity.
You can also view our acknowledgment policy here.
Do let us know if we have funded a project that you think we can publicise to highlight your work and our impact.
We also encourage you to have our fundraising leaflets and posters displayed. Talk to us about this.
How you can apply for funding
As the official NHS charity for North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), Southmead Hospital Charity (SHC) supports the Trust in a variety of ways, through donations and fundraising across five areas:
- Research
- Patient Support
- Equipment
- Staff support and training
- Improvements to our buildings and spaces
Donations are given to support the above areas over and above the levels already provided by the NHS/Trust.
To request funding from SHC
All requests follow a robust procedure to ensure that donations are spent in accordance with both the Charity’s objectives and our donors’ wishes, to the greatest benefit across our five areas of support. These need to also meet the Trust’s strategy and planning.
All applications need to come from a NBT member of staff, to deliver services for the ultimate benefit of our patients at NBT.
Fund request process
All fund holders are required to submit an annual expenditure plan as part of the Charity’s annual spending plan process. The Charity’s request for funding form needs to also be completed to ensure requests meet our governance and regulatory standards. All applications are required to clearly demonstrate how the project proposed will improve patient care, services or staff support at the Trust.
Funding requests above £50,000
It is a Trust requirement that all spending requests above £50,000 follow the business case guidelines to satisfy the Trust’s process.
Expenditure Requests (ER) – funding requests and approval levels
When submitting a funding request, each request needs to be completed and accompany the relevant paperwork mentioned above or we are unable to accept the request.
Divisional fund applications
Most areas of the hospital have a charitable fund. In the first instance, please speak to the fund holder for your department if you would like to submit a request for funding. If you are unsure of who they are please do get in touch with us.
For a copy of our fund holder guidelines, or if you have any further queries about applying for funding please contact Elizabeth Bond or email hello@southmeadhospitalcharity.org.uk
Could you be a Charity Champion?
We’re looking for North Bristol NHS Trust staff to become Southmead Hospital Charity Champions.
Charity Champions are members of staff who act as a link between their ward/department and the Charity. They are our ambassadors who help to raise awareness of us amongst colleagues, patients and their families.
As a Charity Champion, you’ll also be representing your area and identifying where charity funding could have an impact.
If you would like to find out more about becoming a Charity Champion please contact Elizabeth Bond, Head of Fundraising.