St George’s Hospital Charity has launched its Relatives Accommodation Appeal to provide emergency hotel accommodation for relatives of patients at St George’s and Queen Mary’s hospitals when they need to be close at hand unexpectedly.

When patients are rushed to hospital and a relative accompanies them, the relative often arrives without anywhere to stay.

The charity has launched its Relatives Accommodation Appeal to give those families the reassurance of being a stone’s throw away from either St George’s Hospital or Queen Mary’s Hospital, and to be available as the patient receives emergency or critical care.

Donna is backing the Appeal after making numerous trips between her home in Dunstable and St George’s Hospital to be with her son in intensive care following a road traffic accident.

She said: “When you’re already worrying about your loved ones, it’s hard to think about accommodation too. Hotels can be very expensive, and the closest ones to the hospital were often were fully booked which meant staying a few tube stops away.

“I also couldn’t always afford to stay in a hotel and although I didn’t want to leave my son – on those occasions it meant driving all the way back to Dunstable. Fitting the drive around visiting hours in intensive care was a struggle too – sometimes by the time I got there it was time to leave.

“I’m backing St George’s Hospital Charity’s Relatives Accommodation Appeal to give other families in a similar situation peace of mind and the time to focus on their loved ones.”

Noel Cramer, director of fundraising at St George's Hospital Charity, said: “Raising funds for our Relatives Accommodation Appeal means we can help even more families, providing support that is over and above what is normally possible.

“Providing emergency hotel accommodation for next of kin will help to alleviate some of the emotional, practical and financial strains during a very difficult time and keep a relative close at hand.

“We would encourage everyone to help the appeal in whatever way possible. A small donation, a school or office dress-down day, a collection amongst friends or a sponsored run will do so much.”

St George’s Hospital Charity in Tooting improves the patient experience, providing state-of-the-art equipment, supporting ground-breaking research and patient therapies, improving wards, and funding arts, musical therapies and more – touching the lives of the thousands patients and staff of St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust each year.

Through the appeal, the charity aims to fund the cost of one night’s accommodation and breakfast for one room (twin or single) at local hotels for those who come great distances at short notice and are advised not to return home at that stage.

To support the Relatives Accommodation Appeal, you can:

• send a cheque made to “St George’s Hospital Charity – Relatives Accommodation Appeal” to: Fundraising Office, Grosvenor Wing, St George’s Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London SW17 0QT
• call 020 8725 4522 to donate or to speak to one of the charity’s fundraisers and find out more about how you could organise an event or join one at the charity.
• donate online at https://www.stgeorgeshospitalcharity.org.uk/current-appeals/relatives-accommodation

The Relatives Accommodation Appeal aims to raise funds for the urgent needs of relatives needing accommodation at St George’s Hospital and Queen Mary’s Hospital under exceptional circumstances. In the event that more funds are raised for the identified projects, the charity will apply donations for future stays by relatives.