Bringing some festive cheer to Nottingham hospitals.

Christmas is always a busy time, but this year we were truly blown away by the kindness and generosity shown. Thanks to your incredible support, December became our busiest on record! From bringing Santa to Nottingham's hospitals and granting ward wishes for young patients, to ensuring every adult patient received a gift and spreading festive cheer among staff, it was all made possible by you. Here are the highlights:

Breakfast with Santa

We kicked off the festive season by welcoming Santa and Mrs Claus for our first-ever Breakfast with Santa! The event brought the magic of Christmas to Queens Medical Centre, giving young patients and their families the opportunity to participate in festive celebrations often out of reach for those receiving inpatient care. Breakfast with Santa raised vital funds for our Big Appeal too, supporting Nottingham Children's Hospital throughout the year.

Santa’s Grotto

Santa’s Grotto made a magical return in a brand-new location, transforming our Charity Hub into a winter wonderland. Children visiting the hospital had the chance to share their Christmas wishes with Santa and receive a gift. Money raised from our Grotto has gone towards supporting our Grant a Christmas Wish project, which has surged in popularity this year, allowing us to grant more wishes than ever before!

Nottingham Rugby visit

The Nottingham Rugby team visited the hospital to bring some holiday cheer to patients who couldn’t make it to Santa’s Grotto. They spent time chatting with children and their families, delivering gifts and brightening the day for those spending Christmas in the hospital.

Hayward House Cinema Event

It’s wasn’t just young patients in the children’s hospital embracing the festive spirit - patients and families at Hayward House enjoyed a special cinema event featuring The Polar Express, all made possible by your generous donations.

Granting numerous Christmas wishes

This year, a variety of projects and toys were funded across the wards, including trolley loads of toys and activities for patients at Nottingham Children’s Hospital. Donations supported areas such as Ward D33, which cares for children with complex conditions, and PICU, where some of Nottingham’s sickest children are treated.

We were also able to provide special Christmas decorations for babies born over the festive period, offering new parents a meaningful keepsake to celebrate the arrival of their newborns.

Animal encounters

Grant a Christmas Wish extends beyond tangible gifts and the festive season, offering experiences that will benefit hundreds of young patients over the coming months. As part of this initiative, we funded six months of animal encounters for patients at Nottingham Children’s Hospital. Thanks to the support of Animal Encounters Derbyshire, Play Specialists introduced children to a variety of animals, including guinea pigs, snakes, and tarantulas.

These engaging experiences will continue into 2025, providing more children with the opportunity to enjoy an animal encounter, offering a welcome distraction from their hospital environment.

Lights to Celebrate

The festive season is a time to remember those no longer with us, and this year, we once again ran our Lights to Celebrate campaign, offering a chance for those who have lost someone special to honour their loved ones with a dedicated light.

The generous donations made in their memory will support patients across all four Nottingham hospitals, helping to fund essential projects that make a real difference.

Christmas Tree Recycling

This year’s Christmas Tree Recycling has been record breaking, with tree collections at an all-time high! All available slots have now been filled, and we’re on track to raise over £17,000, which is an incredible amount. If you missed out this year, don’t worry – you can still register your interest for next Christmas. The money raised will help make 2025 at Nottingham hospitals the best it can be. 

Did you know that our recycling scheme relies on the generosity of local businesses and organisations? A huge thank you to those who have volunteered their time, donated vans, or taken to the road to help us collect over 1,000 trees from across Nottingham this January. 

Countless kind donations

Throughout December, businesses across Nottingham and beyond generously donated toys and gifts for patients at the hospital. We are incredibly grateful for the support from KIA, the East Midlands Santander branches, Circuit78, and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue. These kind donations will be shared across the hospitals throughout January, enabling us to extend Grant a Christmas Wish beyond the festive season.

A heartfelt thank you also goes to those who have fundraised for us, including the stunning Christmas light displays from Nuthall Lights, supporting Hayward House, which raised £26,000, and Darren Parry who held a weekly Santa's Grotto at Mercia Marina, funding new televisions for the Children’s Hospital. We’ve also had supporters selling arts and crafts at Hayward House, volunteers working tirelessly in our Charity Hub to sell Christmas cards, and Aaniya, one of our superstar young fundraisers, who created and sold bracelets, raising over £200 for Grant a Christmas Wish.

Thank you for making the end of 2024 the best it could have been.