1 in 3 people under the age of 16 visit a children’s hospital in the Grampian region each year.
That’s nearly 35,000 children and young people. Equivalent to ALL the children living within Aberdeen City!
That’s a LOT of children who were it not for The Archie Foundation would face a VERY different hospital experience.
Read on to find out more about the difference Archie has made, and will continue to make in the region.
RACH is where it all began for The Archie Foundation.
The NHS provides world-class healthcare, free at the point of delivery. The ARCHIE Foundation adds the finishing touches that truly make the difference.
Our experience and the outcomes achieved at RACH paved the way for Archie’s support to extend into other regions, to help make the difference for even more children and young people.
We continue to work in partnership with our NHS colleagues, making improvements, refreshing and upgrading areas at the hospital as required to help achieve the best healthcare experiences and outcomes for the young patients who visit.
Dr Gray’s in Elgin, Moray has been supported by The Archie Foundation for many years. This hospital between Inverness & Aberdeen is a pivotal centre for Moray-based children.
Space may be limited at Dr Gray’s but with the right approach and by working in partnership with our NHS colleagues and the local community Archie can and has helped ensure that children right across the Grampian region have equal access to the healthcare experience they deserve.
We are proud to partner with NHS Grampian to help deliver the difference at the new Baird Family Hospital in Aberdeen.
Works began on the build in January of 2021 with a target completion date of December 2023.
We aim to raise £2million to fund the vital finishing touches and additional specialist equipment that will transform this clinically state-of-the-art hospital into a world-class facility. Experience tells us that Archie’s support will make the world of difference to the babies and families cared for at The Baird but we can only do this with support from the local community.
Over the years we have funded some key roles within the Grampian region, many of which successfully made the case for NHS funding. In RACH we funded the Paediatric Pain Nurse for the first decade of this role. Not surprisingly the role at the time was known as the “Archie” Pain Nurse. NHS Grampian took over funding in 2021. In Aberdeen Maternity Hospital’s Neonatal Unit we funded the trial of psychological and counselling support for families, funding a Clinical Pyschologist and two counsellors. The importance of psychological support for neonatal families was recognised by the Scottish Government with Clinical Psychologists now state-funded at all Scottish neonatal units. Funding these trials has created an incredible legacy of support for local children and families which would not exist were it not for generous donations from Archie supporters. We are incredibly grateful for the difference their support has enabled Archie to make.
Currently we fund the Archie Play Worker role at RACH and we also continue to fund a counsellor at Aberdeen Neonatal Unit.
We also provide funding so NHS staff can attend advanced training events and conferences, helping their professional development and knowledge sharing, all of which will benefit the babies, children and young people they care for.
These are all extras above and beyond NHS core provision and are key examples of Archie making a tangible and practical difference to young lives.
The NHS provides world-class treatment. The Archie Foundation funds the “extras” including specialist equipment and activities that truly make the difference for young patients and their families and for the NHS who care for them. To call them “extras” misses the point of the fundamental impact they have on improving experiences and outcomes for young patients. We prefer to think of them as “vital extras”.
We can provide emergency support for children and their families when they need it most. The NHS provides the most amazing treatment, free at the point of delivery, however the onus is on the individual to travel to receive it. Unexpected or urgent hospital admissions, including ongoing treatment, can put immense strain on precarious household budgets with too many families forced to make impossible decisions.
Archie’s Emergency Grants can help in these situations, covering travel costs, providing accommodation, essential clothing and toiletries and sometimes even cash to help struggling families make ends meet.