A charity has reached the £1million milestone in its three-year fundraising appeal to complete and fully fund its state-of-the-art Care and Rehabilitation Centre.
Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People (QEF) launched its Edward Guinness Appeal to raise the final £2.7 million needed for its centre of neuro rehabilitation expertise, supporting people to rebuild their lives after a stroke, acquired brain injury, incomplete spinal injury or neurological illness.
Over the last 22 months the charity, based in Leatherhead, has had support from individuals and the local community who responded to the appeal and took part in a variety of fundraising activities.
Marisa Goldsborough, head of philanthropy at Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People, said: “This is such wonderful news to be able to share with everyone. The last 18 months have been tough for many charities including QEF, so we are delighted to have achieved this milestone and are so grateful for the generosity of everyone who has supported us so far.
“We still have a long way to go to reach the final £2.7m needed but this has given us a real boost.
“The funds raised through The Edward Guinness Appeal are vital to fully funding the Care and Rehabilitation Centre and supporting people when they need our expertise most to rebuild their lives after a traumatic event such as a stroke.
“We also want to ensure items like additional lifts and automatic doors can be added to the building and we can install accessible technology throughout such as eye gaze technology, sensory zones in the gardens and provide additional therapy equipment.”
The Care and Rehabilitation Centre is a £15million development that was opened by HRH The Countess of Wessex in June and has played an important role in supporting the NHS in South East England throughout the pandemic.
The charity launched the Appeal in November 2019 to raise the final £2.7m needed to complete and fully fund this landmark development, which puts QEF at the forefront of neurorehabilitation.
The centre, recently rated as ‘Good’ by the CQC, can support up to 48 people at a time, providing integrated and person-centred neurorehabilitation and nursing care under one roof.
The facilities have been designed to meet the needs of clients, including large ensuite bedrooms each with tracking hoists, a state-of-the-art therapy gym and adaptable therapy rooms, multi-purpose recreational rooms and informal social areas and large, spacious dining rooms.
The charity has a series of unique fundraising events planned over the next 12 months to raise the final total needed, including:
– The Guinness and Oyster Luncheon on November 25 at Mansion House,
– Magical Christmas at Lambeth Palace on December 2
– The ‘Best of British Wine’ tasting event on February 1, 2022
– Rugby Legends Gala Dinner on March 3, 2022.
Find out more about the appeal and how you can get involved at qef.org.uk/edwardguinnessappeal
