Our plans to expand Our big build project sees Hearts Together set to expand from 26 bedrooms to 73 over two build phases, an ambitious but very necessary challenge that we intend to meet head on, as we look to accommodate the ever-growing needs of patients, carers, relatives, our local community, healthcare professionals and trainees. Our team have been working hard since 2018 to find the best way to utilise the space we have to provide the maximum benefit for the people our Charity is here to support. Working closely with our architects and other professionals we have successfully gained planning permission to build what you see portrayed at the top of this page which is simply incredible. Our big build will be phased to ensure that we are able to continue to provide our much-needed services whilst expanding, albeit there will be some noise disruption during the day, an unavoidable consequence of building for the future. The need In 2023 alone, we have been unable to accommodate over 4,000 nights of guest stays due to a lack of capacity within our existing Hospital Hotel accommodation. This challenge is only set to increase as more and more specialist services are being provided by University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (known locally as Derriford Hospital), with plans to expand these further, and people continue travel from across the region and further afield to access these vital healthcare services. As we all know, Devon and Cornish miles are very different from motorway miles and travel times to cover even relatively short distances can be very long, especially during peak times such as the school holidays. This is just one of the reasons that many patients, carers and relatives stay with us, especially when required to attend early appointments or when visiting a loved one on a ward each day. How you can help Fundraise Fundraise specifically for this appeal! It’s a fantastic way to help us raise vital funds while also spreading the word. Donate Every penny really does count, and it is only with your help that we will achieve our goal and reach our £6,000,000 target. Support It is not just monetary donations that make a difference, you may be able to offer support in other ways, perhaps your skills or your time. The challenge As a charity, we need to raise £6,000,000 to complete the first phase of the build! To achieve this we are looking to raise £1.5M from grants, £1.2M from borrowing (mortgage/constructions loans) and an incredible £3.3M from donations. We currently have £750,000 towards this £3.3M total, having spent around £250,000 on bringing the project to where we are today. Every penny really does count, and it is only with your help that we will achieve our goal and reach our £6,000,000 target, so please, tell everyone you meet about our project and click here to donate today and help us on our way! It is not just monetary donations that make a difference, you may be able to offer support in other ways, perhaps your skills or your time or by donating goods or products to help our big build along the way. To find out more click here. Phase 1 The first phase involves building our new North Building, which will sit along the boundary between Hearts Together and Swallows gymnasium. This new building will provide an additional 22 bedrooms along with three 1-bedroom apartments and two 2-bedroom apartments. In addition to the accommodation, there will also be: A café serving breakfast, lunch and evening meals, open to not only our guests but to the general public too Multifunctional spaces – for community groups and other charities to utilise Meeting rooms/quiet spaces – for guests, our counselling team and local organisations A children’s play area – dedicated outdoor space for our younger guests to let off steam and have fun Lounge spaces – for guests to relax and speak with one another during their stays Kitchen areas – for guests to prepare their own meals and to have some sense of normality during turbulent times Office spaces – for our team and for other charitable organisations who may require a temporary or permanent base near Derriford Supporting the wider community Until now, we have been very limited in the services we have been able to offer to our local community as we simply have not had the space to do all we would like. Looking forward to the end of phase 1, we will have dedicated spaces to offer community groups, long-term health conditions support groups, new parents, volunteers, community training providers and others, space to meet and to support one another. We would love to hear from any community groups or charities who would be interested in utilising some of our new spaces as we are keen to ensure that we maximise the help we are able to offer locally as well as those who require use of our accommodation and associated support services. As a Charity we look to collaborate and partner with other organisations and groups who share our values and who we can work alongside to produce even better outcomes for the individuals and families we all support as part of our ‘better health brighter futures programme’, with the understanding and ethos that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. To find out more or to have an informal conversation, please contact us at: [email protected] or call us on: 01752 315 900 Creating opportunities The expansion of our building and services will create new job opportunities and also additional volunteer and placement roles which we have had to limit until now. Each year we welcome Duke of Edinburgh young volunteers and it will be a pleasure to expand the number of spaces we can offer to our local young people. Similarly, we will be able to expand our counselling student volunteer places and look to support more health and social care students. Volunteers play a vital role in supporting our guests during their stay at our Hospital Hotel and we look forward to expanding our volunteer opportunities to encompass the new provisions we have planned for the future, drawing on the incredible skills we have within our local community of dedicated and generous volunteers and ensuring we give back to each person, demonstrating our gratitude and thanks and offering on-going support and training opportunities. To find out more about our current volunteering opportunities please click here. Watch this space for more information as our project progresses… Manage Cookie Preferences