Southampton Hospital Charity’s Red & White Appeal Day is three weeks away.

Among those supporting the day on Friday 9^th March will be 36-year old Yvonne Lo, one of the ward sisters on the 22-bed bone marrow transplant and leukaemia unit at Southampton General Hospital.

Working closely with patients who are receiving intensive treatment for life threatening blood cancers, Yvonne knows first hand the importance of the charity’s £1.76million campaign to improve facilities.

Yvonne said, “I’ve been working on the bone marrow transplant unit for ten years now, and have been a ward sister for the last four.  Day to day we administer intensive chemotherapy and supportive care for both inpatients and outpatients. Our patients have to stay on the ward for weeks at a time often in isolation. For this reason not only the care they receive but the environment they are cared for in needs to be of the highest standard. Our aim is to make our patients as comfortable as we can during their treatment and hope that they will be well enough to return home as soon as possible.”

Yvonne continued, “We are often the only people our patients will see during their stay on the unit due to their high risk of acquiring an infection. If loved ones are unwell they are not able to visit. For patients with young families they may not see their children for at least a month. This can be very distressing during an already difficult time.”

Following successful treatment with the team on the inpatient unit, patients have to make regular follow up visits back to the hospital to receive top up doses of treatment and for blood tests to ensure that they are recovering well, but there is currently no dedicated area for this.

The Red & White Appeal aims to raise £1.76million to create a specialist day treatment unit for these patients which will be built adjacent to the inpatient facilities, vastly improving the quality of care that the nursing team can provide.

Southampton Hospital Charity is calling for supporters to fundraise on Red & White Appeal Day, Friday 9^th March to help make the project a reality. 

Yvonne said, “We hope that everyone will pull together and help support Red & White Appeal Day by organising their own fundraising activities. I will be organising a cake sale outside the main entrance of Southampton General Hospital on Friday 9^th March with the help of the team and some of our patients who are now recovering and will be volunteering their time and effort to make their favourite recipes. This has been a regular event that everyone looks forward to, those who make the cakes and those who eat them!”

Yvonne continued, “We are asking people across the city to do the same and help us to raise money for our patients who need your support.”

If you would like to organise a cake sale or any event or activity for Red & White Appeal Day, let us know and our fundraising team will be happy to support you.  Call Southampton Hospital Charity on 023 8079 8881 or visit www.redandwhiteappeal.org to find out more about how you can get involved.