If you've been watching Geordie Hospital on Channel 4, chances are you'll have spotted a priceless bit of kit or a much-loved service funded by the Newcastle Hospitals Charity.
From a Berlin Heart machine like the one young Kit Matthews used, to the fruit and veg stall at the Freeman, the charity works hard to fundraise and then spend its cash making our city's hospitals happier, healthier and hopefully more successful places.
The charity's head of grants Jon Goodwin and chief exec Teri Bayliss sat down with ChronicleLive to explain some of the exciting initiatives underway to help our NHS heroes - and the patients who need them most.
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Teri said: "What we do is about helping the Trust go further. We all know that public funds are limited - though they go as far as we need them to. But with a little help we can make them go a lot further.
"It's about helping our patients and helping boost the wellbeing and resilience of our staff - and it's also about tackling health inequality in our region."
Jon said he had been delighted to see examples of the charity's funding "peppered" throughout the Channel 4 TV show.
He added: "Take the Berlin Heart machines, like little Kit had. We have funded one of those and think it's an absolutely brilliant way of using the charity to support patients. It's about thinking where we can add value - above and beyond core NHS funding.
"And of course in the first seconds of the programme you see the fruit and veg seller, we paid to help get that set up at the Freeman because it's so important to have the fresh food available - and the guys there also end up playing a welfare role just by being around for a chat!"
Looking ahead, the charity has recently approved money for pioneering research, some exciting cycling provision at the RVI, and even just so the hospital chaplains can help get patients and families a bite to eat if they need it.
Jon added: "When it comes to research investment we have just funded Abdominal Normothermic Regional Perfusion - it's technology for the transplant team and it's all about keeping organs healthier for longer. It's one of the first in the country, the NHS can't always pay for it, but we can and by doing so we can make sure that Newcastle is at the forefront of real innovation.
"Then there's the Active Hospital programme. One of the hospital's focuses is on supporting people who have been inpatients for a long time towards helping them to be physically able when they are moving towards being discharged - whether that's on the wards, in the grounds of the Freeman or even in some of the areas like Jesmond Dene right next to the hospital. It's about getting them out and about and helping them to be healthy when they get home.
"And I'm really looking forward to seeing are cycle hubs at the RVI. That's all about making sure it's safe and easy for staff to cycle to work. It's more than just cycle parking - there'll be people there who can help you repair a bike for example. There'll be spare parts and even hire bikes. All that fits around the charity's aims as we have big ambitions around the climate."
He said the charity had just created a £12,000 hardship fund to be administered at the discretion of the hospital chaplains. He added: "It's not just about the big things, we want to make sure our staff and patients have all they need. The fund will be for chaplaincy to use for families of children at the hospital who might be in financial difficulty.
"The chaplains will just use their discretion there, whether it's giving someone £50 for a family meal out or help getting home if necessary.
"The point of all we do is to add value to what the NHS does."
Both Jon and Teri said it was important that people didn't feel that small donations wouldn't make a huge difference - "Small amounts can help pay for a meal or help people get home after hospital", Jon said.
Other things the charity has helped with recently included helping some families who were separated from very sick children stay in Newcastle for a Christmas meal - along with funding things like innovative "colourflash paddles" which help diagnose diseases affecting children's vision.
Teri spoke further about how the charity was helping NHS staff with special art classes, seminars and help for nurses and allied health professionals moving forward in their careers.
She added: "We will look to be even more proactive. A big priority for us is very much about our staff. How do we support their resilience and help them recover from the pandemic - and how can we support our services to recover, too?
"One thing we have learned going through the pandemic is that we essentially operate as a small town. We have 17 to 18,000 staff. That's a lot of people to support and for us it's about ensuring we do as much as we can to look after them as we recover from the pandemic."
The chief exec continued: "We're really proud to be the charity representing the Trust. It's a privilege and we work with everyone across the Trust, from the cleaning teams to the neurosurgeons - who all have such difficult jobs. What we do is try to help them."
To back the Newcastle Hospitals Charity, visit charity.newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk/
