Some 4,000 members of staff at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, W2, will receive M&S Food gift cards through an ambitious new fundraising initiative started by businesses and property owners in the area in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The 1928 Project– named in tribute to Sir Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin that year while working at St Mary’s – goes live with a website launch today and aims to raise £1.5m to support the wellbeing of all staff, including cleaners and porters as well as doctors, nurses and pharmacists.
The project is a partnership with Imperial Health Charity and M&S and is the brainchild of the team at Brockton Everlast, which bought the M&S headquarters in Paddington, W2, last year.
It has already reached £650,000 through support from major property players and charitable foundations as well as individuals such as the English film producer Eric Fellner CBE. Those already lining up with Brockton include Derwent London, British Land, Almacantar, The Rayne Foundation, Reuben Foundation, Wolfson Charities, CBRE, Rothschild Foundation and Rothschild & Co.
They now hope to attract further support to reach the £1.5m target and even exceed this to continue the project long-term.
David Marks, director at Brockton Everlast, said it sprang from discussions with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial Health Charity prompted by the Covid-19 crisis.
“We see the doctors and nurses walking over the bridge [to Paddington Basin (pictured)] and we wanted to do something meaningful to support them,” he said.
“When we spoke to the NHS trust, they said that food was a major need for staff working long hours in the hospital.”
The next phone call was to M&S, which immediately offered its support by providing M&S Food gift cards at a discount to enable staff to buy food on their own terms.
“If we raise £1.5m, the first £1m would be spent on giving a proper amount of weekly credit on M&S cards for the entire 4,000 staff for two to three months,” Marks said.
“The balance would be used to refurbish rest areas and keep larders stocked on a long-term basis with items such as tea, coffee and chocolate.
“There is something about being able to see a tangible impact that is local to where you invest. Society has to step up. Property is one of the biggest asset classes – it has to step up,” Marks added.
If the programme is well-funded and well-received by NHS staff, it will be rolled out to the other four hospitals within the NHS trust. Donations will be received and administered by Imperial Health Charity.
For more information, go to https://1928project.org.uk/
Individual donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/1928project
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