Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) is the UK’s largest dedicated charitable funder of child health – helping to save young lives every day.
Regarded today as one the world’s leading children hospitals, it was founded on Valentine’s Day (14th February) in 1852 and was known as The Hospital for Sick Children – home to just 10 beds.
GOSH hospitals wouldn’t be where it is today without the support and fundraising efforts of staff and the general public.
Every day, 618 children and young people from across the UK arrive at GOSH. This extraordinary hospital has always depended on charity support to provide a wide variety of specialised services, including:
- Research into children’s health- GOSH and its research partner, the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (ICH). They work together to drive pioneering discoveries out of the labs and onto the wards.
- Support for families and children- With its range of support projects, GOSH helps to enhance patient and family experience. For example, a dedicated team of 38 charity-funded Play experts. These Play experts interact with more than 160 patients and siblings each day to bring fun into the hospital.
- Rebuilding and refurbishment- GOSH’s redevelopment programme enables the creation of patient-centred spaces. These are designed to deliver world-class care for some of the UK’s most seriously ill children. An example of this is its new Mittal Children’s Medical Centre which provides 240 beds for children in need.
- Providing life-saving medical equipment- Through high-tech hardware, GOSH ensures children have access to the least invasive and most effective treatments available.
Together, both the charity and hospital provide support to seriously ill children and help them on the road to recovery.
As GOSH states: “A better future for seriously ill children starts here”.
Its supporters enable the charity to provide its hospitals with the vital tools, equipment and facilities needed. From supportive care to funding research, the charity’s knowledge, achievements and endless thoughtfulness is prominent every day.
An Insight Into How Donations Are Invested
From research to life-saving equipment, this charity makes parents and children aware that it is on hand to support them, every step of the way.
GOSH utilises its donations to support research that focuses on providing personalised medicine and tailoring treatment to each child, based on the genetic characteristics of their condition.
Below are just a few examples of how donations are invested:
- Funding accommodation for parents to stay overnight.
- Paying towards a parent’s bed in GOSH’s new building.
- Funding meals for breastfeeding mothers.
- Contributing towards GOSH’s multi-faith chaplaincy.
- Supporting patient families who need help with expenses.
GOSH also hosts a range of support projects including its dedicated team of 38 charity-funded Play experts. These play experts interact with more than 160 patients and siblings each day to bring fun into the hospital.
The image (below), posted on 7th October 2020, shows a Play Specialist, Alanna playing a game of connect four with a patient at GOSH.
Another outstanding project from the charity is its redevelopment programme which provides new patient-centred spaces. These are designed and built in order to have the facilities to care for some of the UK’s most seriously ill children.
NHS Heroes: Their Stories
It is ever so more important to ensure that NHS heroes receive the recognition they deserve, and GOSH delivers just exactly that. This shown through letting them share their stories about what they do behind hospital doors.
For example, the image (below) is from Instagram of Pip, a senior research nurse at GOSH. Pip volunteered to transfer to GOSH’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). This image was posted on 16th February 2021, and received 2,186 likes from followers and supporters.
In the caption, the charity explains her role, from looking after acutely unwell children, and helping families cope during the current global pandemic – giving its audience a deeper insight into the hard work and dedication of staff.
This approach helps to create a personable side to Instagram and Facebook accounts, and provides an insight into the lives of heroic doctors and nurses who help GOSH provide care and support for seriously ill children.
Thanking Supporters For Their Fundraising Efforts
GOSH wouldn’t be able to achieve its fundraising goals without the help of its valued supporters.
So, what better place to share information about recent developments and how users’ fundraising efforts contribute to GOSH than through social media?
In 2021, GOSH is set to open a brand new Sight and Sound Centre, which will be a specialist facility for children with hearing and sight loss. It shared this news through the post (below) and utilised the caption to thank those who have fundraised and made it possible.
Keeping its supporters informed on how they are using donations is a transparent, genuine and honest way of connecting with its audience whilst thanking them for their fundraising efforts.
Stories To Inspire The Nation
GOSH regularly uses its social media accounts as a place for people to share their stories.
On #RareDiseaseDay (28th February 2021), GOSH shared an image (below) of brothers Tom and Oli. Tom and Oli were both treated at GOSH’s Zayed Centre for Research for symptoms of a rare inherited heart condition.
Within the caption, the charity shared that the brothers were celebrating completing their fundraising challenge: to run 100k throughout February.
Through the comments section of this post, supporters shared positive messages congratulating the brothers on their amazing achievement.
Providing a sense of positivity, GOSH utilises its network of supporters to motivate other social media users on what is possible. Gaining an insight into what people have been through is moving and thought provoking, but also educational and inspiring.
Social media is a place to share this optimistic information, something GOSH utilises in a way that is beneficial to all.
COVID Highlight Tool
GOSH has utilised the Highlight tool over on its Instagram account to share educational content which its followers can go back to at any time.
From COVID resources for families, to handy FAQs about the virus, the charity has used this feature to share key information that it knows its audiences are interested in.
Combined with the use of swipe up links on Instagram Stories, GOSH also directs people to its website where they can find additional support about that specific topic.
With currently six stories saved on the highlight, this is an excellent way for a charity to share information about a specific topic and turn its social media platform into an educational resource.
We admire all that GOSH continues to do, both as a charity and as a hospital. It has incorporated the importance of social media to ensure its channels become an educational, inspiring and thought provoking place people can come together, share stories and stay connected.
What do you love about Great Ormond Street’s social media platforms?
Let us know in the comments on our post on Instagram or Facebook.