I am a local Mum of three children. My youngest was born at St. George's Hospital, and over the years I have been and continue to be so thankful that we have the A&E unit close by and the excellent breadth of clinical services in the Dragon Centre. Having previously done some fundraising for the oncology unit at St. George's following my treatment for bowel cancer, I wanted to turn my attention to the teams who have treated my children and so many others in those times of absolute need, so have chosen to support the Time For A Change appeal for my next show on 4th March 2025 at The Bedford. I will be sharing my favourite songs from the West end, the big screen, some pop classics and my own original songs inspired by my children and being a parent.

The charity have launched their Time For A Change appeal to raise £5m as the paediatric services are in desperate need of financial support from our local community to help transform the wards into bright and welcoming spaces and to create better facilities.

Dr Sijo Francis, Clinical Director Children’s Services at St George’s Hospital said:

“When faced with the most serious illnesses and trauma, parents and families turn to St George’s to make their child well again. Our clinical care is outstanding, delivered by committed and compassionate teams. But sadly, our facilities are not. Built in the 70s, our wards really are tired, cramped and uninviting. Lacking space, our Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) urgently needs more beds, despite our staff having given up their changing facilities and staff rooms to make way for more beds already.

“This is not sustainable. It isn’t right. It’s time for a change. We now need our community’s help to raise the £5m that could really transform children’s services here at St George’s Hospital. Together we could increase our PICU capacity by a third, transform the children’s wards into bright and welcoming spaces, for children and their families to recover and heal from illness and operations. And, equally as important, we could create better facilities for our staff, who work tirelessly to provide that outstanding, world-class care. We can’t do this alone: We need our community to stand with us and support our appeal.”

Amerjit Chohan, former Chief Executive of St George’s Hospital Charity, said: “We want to help reduce the stress of a hospital stay for our patients and their families through improved children’s wards. We got off to a great start thanks to our wonderful supporters and the efforts of our staff. We have been overwhelmed by the support we’ve had so far – especially in such challenging times.

‘Better Care, Healthier Lives’. We are the charity that exists to support St George’s hospitals and the communities they serve. Every day, our work makes a real difference to patients, their families and friends and the staff who care for them.