Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) has launched its largest ever fundraising appeal to raise £300m to build a new children’s cancer care centre.
The ‘Build it. Beat it’ appeal will be supported by this year’s London Marathon, which kicks off on 23 April and which GOSH Charity hopes will raise £3.5m.
The appeal also features a short film that depicts the stories of four families who have been treated at GOSH.
Last month, GOSH Charity said that its fundraising ambitions were “greater than ever before” despite challenges posed by the cost-of-living crisis, adding that it still aims to raise £100m a year by 2025.
‘State-of-the-art building’
GOSH Charity said the £300m it aims to raise through the appeal will help support transformation in children’s cancer care and ultimately save more lives.
The new children’s cancer centre will be a “state-of-the-art building”, providing care to children with the most complex and hardest-to-treat cancer from diagnosis to remission.
It will feature new inpatient wards, intensive care units, new operating theatres and a cancer daycare centre where children can have chemotherapy treatment.
In addition, it will have a new hospital school and outdoor spaces which will include a roof garden.
‘Game-changing facility’
Louise Parkes, GOSH Charity’s chief executive, said: “From the first bone marrow transplant for children in 1979, to being the first in the world to use base-edited cells to treat previously incurable leukaemia in 2022, GOSH has been at the forefront of children’s cancer care for years, but it needs a new home for breakthrough treatments and pioneering research to benefit children from all over the world.
“It’s devastating that cancer is still the leading cause of death in children, but building on decades of research and clinical expertise, the children’s cancer centre has the potential to help change this. That’s why we are thrilled to be launching the Build it. Beat it appeal to help build a game-changing new facility that will help beat childhood cancer.
“As someone taking on the TCS London Marathon myself, it’s so motivating to be running for such an incredible cause, but to make our vision of the children’s cancer centre a reality, we need your help. We’re calling upon the public to support the appeal and help us save more children’s lives.”
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