Our amazing NHS staff and volunteers are working tirelessly to care for COVID-19 patients. And we want them to know the country has also got their back. We are so proud and in awe of NHS staff and volunteers as they work tirelessly to save lives! This means staying away from their homes and families, working day and night, to treat as many people as possible in need of care. We, the nation, can help. Let's show our gratitude and respect for the frontline NHS, and together beat this virus. As NHS staff and volunteers look after COVID-19 patients in their greatest hour of need, we can help take care of the well-being of our NHS people. AND YOU CAN HELP!
*Please note this will not get you a patch
The focus of the Covid-19 fund is on providing support for NHS staff. “Who cares for the NHS heroes?” asks the fund’s Just Giving page, calling on donors to “show our respect and gratitude [to staff] as they work tirelessly in the face of the virus – it’s our turn to make sure we look after them, to ensure they can keep doing their vital work”.
Little detail is available on how the Covid-19 money will be spent. NHS Charities Together members were told on 30 March that a small grants scheme was open to applications.
Each member charity is allowed to make any number of applications (though they are expected to limit them to one per week). Grants are intended for funding well-being packs and gifts for staff and volunteers on wards, including food deliveries, refreshments, wash kits, overnight stay kits, and the cost of staff travel and parking.
A second phase of post-pandemic grants is being ringfenced to support the mental health and recovery of NHS staff and volunteers. “This will be in the form of grants that provide respite, rehabilitation and mental health recovery of NHS staff and their families,” the charity said.
The rules are clear that money raised for NHS charities cannot be spent on “core” clinical services, such as paying nurses and doctors – which is funded through taxation – but must be used to provide extra services. In practice, this could buy toys or tables for children’s wards, or artworks to brighten up corridors.
"These funds may be used to enhance and complement the work of the NHS trust. However, they add to basic NHS provision and do not substitute for it.”