Fast facts
We have gathered together some common questions and answers to these are below. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any other specific enquiries
How many children visit the Royal Hospital for Sick Children every year?
Around 100,000 children come though the doors of the hospital each year. Although 80% come from Edinburgh and the Lothians, the remainder come from all over Scotland.
What do you provide grants for?
We provide funding for extra provision which the NHS is unable to cover. So we provide extra little luxuries for the children in the hospital, state of the art equipment, child and family friendly accommodation and facilities, help children being cared for in the Community and specialised training and research.
How much do you raise every year?
We raise around £1.4 million each year.
Can I choose where my donations will be used?
Yes, you can choose to support one of our restricted funds, normally restricted to a ward or department within the hospital or community. That means to use your gift legally it must be used for that specific purpose. We are happy to discuss the various options with you, always ensuring that the proposed spending is in line with our plans.
How many people visit the Drop In Centre?
Around 300 children, parents and families visit the Drop In Centre every month. In fact it has been so busy that we are planning to extend the opening hours yet again.
Visitors to the Drop In Centre benefit from support, advice, information on financial assistance, complementary therapies, activities, arts and crafts and even movie nights for the older patients.
All of this work is funded by the Sick Kids Friends Foundation.
What is the Retrieval Service?
Our paediatric intensive care retrieval service brings around 130 seriously ill patients from hospitals all over Scotland to our paediatric intensive care unit which completes just under three transfers a week. These are the most unwell children who require the level of specialist care which is only available in Edinburgh or Glasgow. The Sick Kids Friends Foundation purchased the retrieval Trolley in 1997 and have provided various pieces of equipment for it since.
Do you have a shop?
The Sick Kids Friends Foundation runs a small shop at the main entrance of the hospital, we do not currently have a charity shop. We are very grateful to all our volunteers who help us to run the shop, who also work in the Drop In Centre, and help out at events and in our office.
How do you help parents at the hospital?
We have refurbished two areas of accommodation, the Family Flat and PJ's Loft and we fund two part time Housekeepers, Liz and Dawn to look after the areas and keep them in excellent condition. For parents who sleep beside their children we also provided foldaway beds and they can use our facilities in PJ's Loft for showering and having a break away from the wards.
Show allHide all
