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.’
