Spearheaded by local resident, Mohammed Khateeb, over £4,000 has been raised by the Muslim community within Doncaster, with the money used to purchase a range of items including medical equipment, storage lockers, as well as sweet treats for hospital staff, as a way to share thanks for the NHS’ hard work throughout the pandemic.
The fundraising began following a visit to Doncaster Royal Infirmary’s Endoscopy Unit by Mohammed and his father last year. Chatting with health professionals within the service, one of the Trust’s nurses, Clare, mentioned that they could make use of an additional echocardiogram machine, which monitors activity within the heart, as well as lockers for staff to store their personal items whilst working.
Mohammed takes up the story: “I left the hospital with an idea to fundraise for the items mentioned by Clare, not just to help this specific service but as a way to say thank you to the NHS for their efforts throughout the pandemic. Speaking with friends, family and members of the community, it became apparent that so many people wanted to help and things took off from there with people donating money, organising bake sales as well as other activities.
“In a really short time, together we managed to raise over £4,200 – far beyond the initial goal I had in mind. As a result, I reached out to other areas within the hospital, namely Respiratory, the Children’s Ward, the Emergency Department and Chaplaincy services and, using the additional money, we were able to purchase more equipment, as well as a box of chocolates for every single ward and service within the Trust – a small gesture just to show the appreciation of the community with Doncaster.”
“We hope to inspire more communities and groups to help and support our local hospitals and their amazing, hardworking staff. The NHS has been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic, risking their own and their families lives to provide the best possible care for all of us.”
In all, the local fundraisers were able to purchase an echocardiogram machine, staff lockers, toys for the Emergency Department, a number of Qur’an cubes for Muslim patients, as well as present a cheque for £1,000 to the Paediatrics team in order to purchase an additional echocardiogram device.
David Purdue, Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: “On behalf of everyone at the Trust, I want to share my thanks with Mohammed, his team, friends and family, as well as the Muslim community within Doncaster who made this donation possible. The generosity shown to us by our communities has been truly heart-warming, and the items donated today will provide to be extremely useful to our colleagues, as well as the patients we serve. Thank you.”
Mohammed was accompanied by his fundraising team, Muhammad Sarfraz, Parveen Shafiq, Nasim Aftab and Nareen Akhtar as well as Councillor Majid Khan, on Wednesday 31 March 2021 to present and donate the items to hospital staff.
Speaking about the visit, Councillor Khan said: “I am honoured that I have been able to assist in this fantastic fund raising project and that we have had such a great response from the muslim community of Doncaster. Not only are we users of the NHS but we value and support our NHS. I hope this acts as encouragement for more community groups to come forward and support our hard working NHS team and hospital.”
If you wish to support Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospital’s Charity, please go to dbth.nhs.uk/charity to download a fundraising pack or email dbth.charity@nhs.net to find out how you can get involved.