Congratulations to our corporate partner National Friendly for a well-deserved first place in Protection Review’s “Doing it Better” category.

The award recognises companies who have shown strong evidence of community initiatives which have made a genuine difference to the lives of vulnerable people in their local community, which National Friendly have certainly achieved in their generous support of our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Kurtis Reece, National Friendly’s PR and corporate partnerships executive, says “We won praise for our work in the community in Bristol, working collaboratively with local organisations and charities to make a fundamental difference to local lives.”

National Friendly staff and NICU nurses hold large cheque

National Friendly’s generous support of our NICU was a key factors in the award, after they were able to raise an incredible £26,500, their highest annual amount yet. This money has been an enormous help in supporting our NICU staff, allowing them to continue their life-saving work. We’re particularly grateful to Louise Webber, a team leader at National Friendly who nominated us as their charity of the year for 2019, following her personal experience of the charity.

The record sum is indicative of National Friendly’s growing involvement with others in the local community to make great things happen, and we couldn’t be happier to receive it.

Adrian Brown, Fundraising Manager at Southmead Hospital Charity, says “We are over the moon that National Friendly has received some much-deserved recognition for their contribution to the local community. From young to old, National Friendly has given so much support to the people of Bristol.

“Our corporate partners mean the world to us, and in National Friendly, we’ve found an organisation who are passionate, dedicated and driven in helping others. We are so grateful for their incredible fundraising, and the impact it has had on seriously ill babies and their parents at North Bristol Trust’s NICU. ”

The judges were also very impressed with National Friendly’s sponsorship of The Bristol Hippodrome’s Matinee Mingle, in an initiative launched by the theatre in association with Bristol Age UK to address loneliness in later life, at a time where people may become more vulnerable.

Thank you to National Friendly from all of us at Southmead Hospital Charity, and congratulations once again for this well-deserved recognition.

National Friendly is a mutual insurer specialising in private healthcare and life cover for the over 50s, including later life options, but also sees its work with the local community as being a big part of its ethos.