Shine a little light this Christmas for the children at Evelina London
With your support, Evelina London can buy more equipment like Wee Sights and ultrasound scanners that help make children’s time in hospital as comfortable as possible for them and their families.
Every year, Mountain ward sees over 22,000 children of all ages, from tiny babies to teenagers. It’s home to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) and cares for children with a range of illnesses such as asthma, pneumonia and meningitis. Many of the children need intravenous access for fluid and medication along with regular blood tests.
But taking blood and inserting cannulas for drips in tiny babies is no easy task, especially when babies’ and children have such tiny veins that are difficult to see from sight alone. And despite staff’s best efforts, it can cause a lot of distress to young children and their families.
With your help, Evelina London can buy more equipment that make essential procedures like this easier and a lot less scary for the children under its care.
Children’s veins are much smaller than adults’, sometimes inserting tubes or taking blood causes blown vessels, where the needle passes through to the other side causing bruising. If no veins are visible, doctors may have no choice but to make several attempts to try and find a vein.
A simple piece of equipment called a Wee Sight can make all the difference. A Wee Sight is a bright LED light that can be shone through a child’s hand or wrist to illuminate ‘invisible veins’ for the insertion of a cannula. They are painless, harmless and cause no distress. In fact, a lot of children enjoy seeing their glowing fingers!
Ultrasound scanner at Evelina London
An ultrasound scanner is another piece of equipment that makes it easier to spot small and hidden veins. These powerful machines allow staff to staff accurately visualise even deep blood vessels. They can be a lifesaver when there are literally no veins to see.
“At first, the doctors and nurses found it hard to find a vein on Matilda. On one occasion, they tried to put in a cannula 14 times before finding a vein. This was stressful for both Matilda and for me as her mum. Thankfully, the next time, they used an ultrasound scanner, which was so much faster and smoother and a huge relief for us all.”
Megan, Matilda’s mum
Donate today to help shine a light for sick children
A gift of £60 today could help buy one Wee Sight, which will put our children at ease by:
Illuminating blood vessels so staff can accurately locate ‘invisible veins’ in babies’ and children’s small limbs
Increasing the first-time success of inserting tubes and reducing the risk of damaging blood vessels beyond use
A gift of £100 could go towards buying an ultrasound scanner, which will transform care by:
Identifying deeper vessels not visible on the surface using a harmless and rapid bedside scan
Providing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) gold standard care for children with ultrasound-guided line placement for inserting long-term use catheters
Speeding up waiting times and reducing the need for several unsuccessful attempts to find a vein
Please note, unfortunately, we are unable to take any telephone calls or process any donations by telephone for the immediate and foreseeable future. You can still donate by credit/debit card and/or make a regular gift by Direct Debit. You can also send a cheque too. Thank you very much for your support. We hugely appreciate it.
Go Online through our donation page, make a one-off payment or set up a monthly direct debit.
For a Bank Transfer, please contact our Supporter Care team via email info@supportevelina.org.uk
and we can provide the relevant details.
If you would like to send a donation by cheque, please make this payable to Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital Charity, with 'Evelina London' written on the reverse.
If you can include a covering letter with your contact details as well as reasons for donations and what you would like it to be put towards, we will write to you and let you know when the donation has been received.
Please send the cheque to this address:
Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital Fundraising Team Fundraising Team Virginia Woolf Building 22 Kingsway, 2nd Floor London
Can you claim Gift Aid on my donation?
Your donations are only eligible for Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer and we have a record of your postcode and donation amount. You must also tick the Gift Aid box on our sponsorship forms (Virgin Money Giving / Just Giving) or donation page.
Please note that we are unable to claim Gift Aid on ticket sales, raffle sales, corporate sponsorship, and sale of goods or auction proceeds.
Can I donate to a specific ward/department within the hospital?
If you would like to help a specific ward or department, we will do our best to find the most appropriate fund for your donation to go towards.
Please note that once a donation has been allocated to a specific fund, we are unable to change this at a later date.
Please also provide some basic information about the item, including how old the item is and we will then be able to confirm if the hospital is able to accept the item.
Please note that we are unable to accept soft toys and toys that cannot be easily cleaned.
If you would like to discuss this more to find out how we can help, please call our Supporter Care team via info@supportevelina.org.uk.
What is your charity number?
Evelina London is part of Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital so does not have a separate registered charity number.
The charity number for Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity is 1160316.
What happens to my personal details?
All the personal information about our supporters we collect is processed and stored in accordance with GDPR 2018, and all other applicable data protection laws and regulations. This includes, but is not limited to, the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations (PECR).
If you need a new tin, collection bucket or security seal sticker, then please let us know by contacting us via email at info@supportevelina.org.uk and we can send a replacement out to you. Please note, we currently have limited stock on some items, and there may be some delays with deliveries.
Do you accept donations of clothing?
Clean, plain clothing for adults and children are accepted, items such as jogging bottoms and sweatshirts are ideal. Used underwear is not accepted.
Thank you to everyone who has offered knitted bonding squares for our Neonatal Unit. We’ll let you know if we need more in future but for now, we have plenty. We’ve had so many offers our cupboards are overflowing!
How can I volunteer?
Fundraising volunteers are vital to our work at Guy's and St Thomas’ Hospital Charity. You can volunteer with us on events, awareness days, in general or even work with the Fundraising Team.
All our opportunities support our fundraising work and activities, we do not organise volunteering within the hospital. If this is what you are interested in please visit the Guy’s and St Thomas' volunteering page.
Policy for returning donations
We work hard to ensure you have the best supporter journey when you make a donation. Unfortunately, under charity law (The Charities Act 2011) we are unable to refund donations, other than in specific circumstances.
If you believe that a donation you have made should be refunded then please contact via email at info@supportevelina.org.uk and we can advise on what we can do.
Well done Tony, you are a truely amazing little soul!
Tony! What an inspiration you are, so young, so brave and doing incredible things. Keep going and well done for absolutely smashing your target; it is going to an amazing cause and we love watching your journey. You can do it! X x
Dear Tony, what a beautiful, special, precious little boy you are. You are very brave and strong. You are an inspiration to us all. I hope your legs feel good and help you take on your challenge. You can do it!!👍🥰 I've donated because you made me so proud. Lots of love always Jude xxx
You are such an amazing superhero! Keep up the wonderful things you are doing!😀👍🚑🏃
Well done Tony on your 10km walk. We followed your progress. You are a brave little boy. We wish you well! Love xx
You are amazing and an inspiration to everyone - there's nothing you can't do or achieve in this life! Thank you so much