Hug on a tray appeal
Since 2014 Ben has been a patient at the haematology department at St James Hospital, Leeds. During these 5 years we have worked out that he has spent at least 3 months of each year on Ward J88 and J89 with his stays varying from 1 to 8 weeks. When we sit down and think about it we must have spent thousands of pounds in the hospital in this time from cups of coffee to tv and parking charges it soon adds up. Hospitals seem to be happy to take from the vulnerable in their time of need.
Ben’s first lengthy stay took place in April 2015 when he had his stem cell transplant. I remember that during that time we took our little tv in from home and I bought a dongle from EE so he could use his iPad and avoid the £10 a day tv and internet charges. It was during his next lengthy stay in November 2015 that we were told we were no longer allowed to take our own tv in due to health and safety. Thankfully I could still buy him a dongle so he could watch tv on his iPad to again avoid the extortionate charges.
This cycle continued until 2017 when Ben went into hospital and there was a sign to say the tv had been paid for thanks to a generous donation. Fast forward 18 months and the Chevin Socialites have continued to successfully fund free tv and internet for the patients on ward J88 and J89. Not only have they provided these services but thanks to their generosity each of the 40 beds on these 2 wards have been provided with goodie bags (tea, coffee and snacks) for the patient and their visitors along with Christmas gifts and advent calendars.
These are all very simple things but for a patient who is miles away from home and is facing an extended stay in a single bed room (and a lot of the time unable to leave it) they can really help make their stay easier. We have seen this ourselves with Ben and really appreciate the hard work the Chevin Socialites put in to keep this going. It costs £28,000 a year to keep these services going.