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The ALBORADA Trust’s support for ACT surpasses £800,000

The ALBORADA Trust has provided Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust with exceptional support during 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With grants of over £300,000 made in this year alone, the trust moved swiftly to support the staff at Addenbrooke’s Hospital first in paying for new wellbeing rooms, secondly in helping with the creation of a hardship fund to ease financial pressures and third in the provision of staff vouchers. The trust also funded vital lung injury research, allowing specialists at Addenbrooke’s to understand how COVID-19 causes damage to the lung.

The wellbeing rooms have provided a safe haven and a quiet place for staff to get away from the intense pressure and strain experienced in the first wave of COVID-19. The hardship fund and vouchers were a huge boost to staff morale and meant that those experiencing financial difficulties had one less thing to worry about.

One Addenbrooke’s staff member said: ‘It is amazing how much more spacious and usable the room looks. It feels like something we would gladly offer to patients but never to staff – it’s good to feel like we matter so much’ 

Since 2015, The ALBORADA Trust have awarded over £800,000 to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, allowing us to respond quickly to the hospital’s needs.

That includes their support of the hospital’s 3D Surgical Planning Service, a new state-of-the-art facility that will allow our Maxillofacial team to produce 3D models using scans, that can be used during facial reconstruction surgery for those with head and neck cancer.

Staff are delighted with the additional support that the ALBORADA Trust has provided during the most difficult of times. After being nominated to receive staff vouchers by a colleague, one member of Addenbrooke’s staff said:

‘I was very touched to receive my “You Made A Difference Award” nomination yesterday. I feel very proud to have been able to make a difference to patients and relatives during this pandemic and having nursed at Addenbrooke’s for 35 years, this is the icing on the cake! Thank you very much for the award and the recognition of our work through this time – it has been very gratefully received.’

Donation funds well-being rooms for Addenbrooke’s staff to relieve stress

Staff working in COVID positive areas of the hospital often have nowhere to go to ‘decompress’ on breaks or after facing a particularly upsetting situation. Thanks to generous funding of £200,000 received from The ALBORADA Trust, Addenbrooke’s charity – Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) – has been able to create much-needed well-being rooms – peaceful spaces where staff can reflect, relax and de-stress.

Seminar room before the transformation

An underused seminar room has now been completely transformed into a welcoming, calming area for staff with comfy seating and dimmable lighting, and is the first of three such rooms that will be available for staff to use.

Not only does this space provide a quiet, accessible area for staff to take their breaks, it will also be used to hold trauma and tension release classes, allowing staff to unwind after the intense pressure they have faced over the last few months.

Jeremy Richardson, Director of the ALBORADA Trust, said: “In April, we asked Addenbrooke’s to approach doctors and nurses in ICU to ask them for their particularly urgent needs. It was as a result of that approach that the well-being rooms came about and my trustees were pleased to provide immediate funds for this, in addition to the other help which the Trust has given for the amazing NHS staff at Addenbrooke’s.”

Wellbeing room
Well-being room after the transformation

Shelly Thake, CEO of ACT who oversaw the work, said: “We can’t thank The ALBORADA Trust enough for their generosity in providing our hospital staff with such a peaceful retreat in which to take their breaks. Doubling up the space to use for stress-release classes will also ensure that staff can tackle any stress before it becomes a problem, providing more than just a quick fix.”