The ICU Charitable fund supports patients, relatives, and staff on the ICU.
We support staff attending educational courses, assist them in acquiring new skills and help with staff wellbeing. This improves patient care and enables us to recruit and retain staff in a demanding specialty. We also assist in purchasing equipment and funding refurbishments not fully covered by the Trust.
We help the patient support group by maintaining the website and paying the costs of the room. A newsletter is produced thanking our donors and highlighting recent spending
When a request comes in it is circulated to the ICU Charitable fund committee for review. Once we have all the information each member votes. If the request is approved it is then sent for final sign off by the Royal Berks Charity.
The whole process is done via email so the turnaround time is in days. Overall, we have been a very successful charity in terms of spending our donations on items we think make a real difference.
The ICU Charitable fund Committee is looking into various fund raising activities, one of which is to publicise ourselves and what we do. If you have any fund raising ideas or would like to donate please get in touch via the link below or via the QR code.
“I recently had the amazing opportunity to attend a meeting of the Reading Rotary Club, where I presented on behalf of the Royal Berks Charity in support of a funding application. I am hugely grateful to report that our application was successful, and as a result, we have now received a new tilt-in-space shower chair for our Intensive Care Unit.
This specialised shower chair will significantly benefit patients who, due to lack of sitting balance or fatigue, are unable to maintain an upright sitting position for the duration of a shower. It will allow them to receive a full shower, rather than being confined to a bed bath.
As you may have experienced yourself, being on the Intensive Care can be both a vulnerable and out of control experience. Providing patients with familiar comforts, such as having their hair washed or using their preferred shower gel, can make a profound difference in their well-being, offering a sense of normality during a challenging time.
Despite ongoing staffing challenges and the mounting pressures associated with funding constraints, we remain resolute in our commitment to delivering the highest quality, patient centred care within the resources available. We anticipate using this new chair for at least 2 patients per week, amounting to 104 annually, a milestone of which we are incredibly proud.”
Abbi Tolputt – March 2025
Specialist Physio Practitioner for RaCi
