B&M & P&G Join Alder Hey Children's Hospital to Help Launch Latest Fundraising Campaign

Discount retailer B&M and Procter & Gamble (P&G) are delighted to announce that once again, they’re relaunching their exciting partnership on Wednesday 5th July 2023 to raise funds to support Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Charity’s Surgical Neonatal Appeal.

The partnership will enable their customers to change the lives of families treated at Alder Hey, simply by buying their P&G everyday cleaning essentials at their local B&M store.

The partnership was formed in summer 2022, to support the charity in its mission to raise vital funds to help make Alder Hey a truly world-class, patient-friendly hospital. Following the success of the previous partnership campaigns, already raising a fantastic total of £110,000 for the charity, the two brands have come together once again in the hope that even more money would be raised towards the incredible project.

This time, they plan to raise even more money, with the proceeds from selected P&G products across cleaning categories sold in B&M stores over four weeks being donated to the charity’s appeal.

A 5p donation from every pack sold will go direct to Alder Hey Children’s Charity, with a minimum donation amount of £55,000.

To kick-start this round of fundraising activity, B&M & P&G joined Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in their NHS 75th birthday celebrations at the Hospital on Wednesday 5th July 2023. The 5th July 2023 marks 75 years of the National Health Service, treating over a million people a day in England. When the NHS was founded in 1948, it was the first universal health system to be available to all, free at the point of delivery.

 

The birthday celebration was a fantastic day to commemorate and praise the incredible work that our NHS has done over the last 75 years, looking after patients both young and old across the country. B&M & P&G joined the celebrations to kick-start the campaign, and donated raffle prizes for the charity fundraiser alongside NHS workers at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Jen Deeney, Head of Nursing at the Liverpool Neonatal Partnership gave us an update on how plans are going to prepare for when the Unit opens. “We’ve been recruiting and inducting new staff, who are all rotating across Alder Hey and Liverpool Women’s Hospital and working really well within the team. We’re pleased to have increased consulting hours on the existing unit too. We are able to deliver better care and consistency for our families, focusing on the baby’s wider needs as a newborn as well as their surgical needs.

What’s really great is we’re seeing more babies in the appropriate place for their care. We are obviously still having to transfer babies back and forward between Liverpool Women’s and Alder Hey, but we’re managing the transfers more effectively. It’s not perfect, we’re still not where we want to be and won’t be until the new unit is up and running, but we’re making consistent improvements as we work towards an exciting new model of care which is going to benefit so many babies and their families.

We’re so grateful to everyone who has supported the appeal, you are making our vision a reality and will be changing the lives of families who need our care. Thank you so much on behalf of everyone at Alder Hey and the Liverpool Neonatal Partnership.”

Artist's impression of what the new neonatal unit will look like when building is complete. The unit will be open and operational from autumn 2024. Flythrough video of the new neonatal unit can be found here.

The new unit will reduce the need for high-risk ambulance transfers between hospitals and bring the experts from Alder Hey and Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust (Liverpool Neonatal Partnership) together under one roof.

In 2019/2020, nearly 150 babies were transferred between Liverpool Women’s Hospital and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, with some having to make the journey several times. These transfers were often around the time of surgery when babies are most vulnerable and acutely unwell. The new neonatal unit is based around a Family Integrated Care Model which will provide family accommodation for parents and offer the latest enhanced patient monitoring systems. This will give neonatal babies the best possible environment to receive the urgent care they need, and most importantly - with their families by their side.

The unit will be the first of its kind in the UK, and the vision is to lead the way for this standard of care. The Appeal will fund the creation of a state-of-the-art Surgical NICU facility with 22 neonatal cots and 18 family rooms, where parents can stay alongside their newborns whilst they receive the expert care they urgently need.

The total cost of the Surgical NICU at Alder Hey will be around £26 million, and Alder Hey Children’s Charity will raise £3 million in support of this. The B&M and P&G partnership has provided vital funds to help achieve this goal. The continued support from B&M customers will ensure the very best for the tiny patients and families who will benefit from this new unit.

(For more information about the appeal and to explore 3D views of the new unit click here)

Returning to lead the campaign will be lovely baby Frankie who is now 15 months old. Prior to birth Frankie had been diagnosed with gastroschisis which meant he would be born with his bowels on the outside of his stomach and surgery to fix this would be needed within hours of birth.

Frankie now continues to recover and is exceeding expectations. Frankie's mum and dad, Jess and Sam, are now looking forward to travelling overseas for a summer holiday with Frankie saying – “he has really enjoyed the recent sunny weather and loves playing and splashing around in water! He has even grown very fond of his new shades, looking at himself in the mirror and on mum's phone!”

We’re absolutely delighted that Frankie is doing so well, and the truly needed donations for the campaign will help go towards helping other babies like Frankie, who require the support of specialist treatment from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Fiona Ashcroft, CEO of Alder Hey Children’s Charity said: “We are delighted to welcome back B&M, with P&G, for a third time for a partnership that truly has families at the heart of it. The 5p per pack donation will help us to ensure we can continue to support newborn babies and their families. Thanks to everyone for supporting this campaign”

Shelley Robinson, B&M Brand and Press Manager said: “We’re delighted to be working alongside P&G once again for such a fantastic campaign supporting Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

"Alder Hey Children’s Charity has personally touched the lives of so many of our colleagues, their families and friends across the country, with the fantastic work they do to raise funds for life-saving specialist medical equipment and their patient-friendly campus. We were so happy to be invited to join Alder Hey at the NHS 75th birthday celebrations to launch our latest campaign with the hope to raise even more vital funds, with the help from our wonderful customers, to help build a truly world-class facility that wraps around families with the most vulnerable babies across the country”.

Liam Sargeant, Procter & Gamble Community Impact Lead commented: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Alder Hey Children’s Charity to support their mission to provide vital care to families in need. At P&G, we’re committed to being a Force for Good in the communities in which we live and work.

"Our brands feature in millions of people’s everyday routines – whether that is a parent using a Pampers nappy on their newborn baby, to a family using Fairy Liquid to wash dishes after dinner or a father and son sharing their first shave with a Gillette razor. As part of our commitment to be a force for good, we also are also there for people in greater times of need — when our products and support matter more than ever and are honoured to be partnering with B&M and Alder Hey to support the important work of this charity”.

Customers will easily be able to locate the products included by simply looking out for the Alder Hey & P&G branded feature bay end at their local B&M store. The P&G products featured will include some of the biggest brands in cleaning including Fairy, Flash, Febreze, Fairy Non-Bio, Lenor and Ariel.

To find out more about the campaign and get involved, head down to your local B&M Store.

For each selected Fairy, Ariel, Flash, Febreze and Fairy Non-Bio product purchased between 05/07/2023 and 01/08/2023, Procter and Gamble UK will donate £0.05 to Alder Hey Children’s Charity, Registered Charity England and Wales (1160661). A list of all products included in the donation can be found here.