Friends Voices

Stories of volunteers supporting the health service since 1949

The Friends of UCLH

The Friends of UCLH have been supporting UCLH for many years, and before that they supported the hospitals that came together to form UCLH. The aim of the group is to fund ‘extras’ that the NHS cannot provide. Extras can be for patients, staff or both, and in three years, the Friends have spent £430k on ‘extras’. The Friends see their donors as a community and keep in touch with them using newsletters and annual meetings.

Address: UCLH, 5th Floor East, 250 Euston Road, London, NW1 2PG
Email: uclh.friendsofuclh@nhs.net
Telephone: 020 3447 9931
Website: https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/friends
Founded: 1974
Members:
Chair: Diana Scarrott

1973

on the 19th of November 1973, the Friends of UCLH was set up to provide assistance to the patients and staff of UCLH, and make sure that everybody is looked after, and their needs are properly met.

1980

In the early days of the Friends, it was difficult to find a room to conduct the meetings, this meant that the meetings were held in a variety of different places, It was therefore imperative that people read the agenda of the meeting before they went to ensure they knew where it was going to be held.

2005

The Friends wanted to create a space for parents of sick children to be able to stay, so that they didn’t have to spend a lot of money on accommodation. To do this, they asked the hospital to vacate a room, and this took a while. They then furnished the room which was expensive, but this was well received by parents.

2020

In March 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic hit and everything changed for a lot of people, the Friends were no exception. As a result of lockdown, all of the face to face trustee meetings were suspended. The Friends wanted to help people as much as they could through this unprecedented time, so they shortened the application people had to undertake if they wanted to apply for a grant.

2021

The Friends of UCLH approved a grant of £13,800 of activities. The purpose of the grant was to assist staff with data literacy, the result of this is that care quality for patients is improved, meaning that they get a better and more enjoyable experience.

The Friends also invested in high quality coffee machines for staff, to ensure they are well cared for, and that they can have a hot drink and relax, so they can destress and keep their focus on caring for the patients.