We had a really wonderful time at our summer market today promoting the charity & bringing something a little different to our staff, patients and visitors.

We were humbled by the amount of patients and families who came to visit us and join in the fun.

Despite some cancellations due to the high winds, we still managed to raise over £200 towards our general appeal.

“Its lovely to just be around such a positive environment”

We would like to say a huge thank you to those who donated towards our raffle:

• Durnham Mccarthy solicitors, for donating a cheese & wine hamper,
• Marks & Spencers Longbridge for donating a £10 voucher,
• English Cottage Garden for donating a beautiful handmade candle
• Farmfoods for donating a voucher towards chocolates

We would also like to thank vendors, Fine Fudge & Brocklebys pies for attending despite the wind and rain.

Huge congratulations to Team ROH who took on the mighty Birmingham Velo yesterday and smashed it! We’d like to commend every member of the team for the effort they put in to completing this seriously scary 100 mile ride. There were some spills, scrapes, a damaged wrist and no doubt some aching muscles, but like champions they carried on and got the job done.

The team took on this monumental challenge to raise funds for the Throne Project which aims to improve patient experience for dementia patients at ROH. They have raised a whopping £3,855 already, but there’s still time to give! Click here to donate.

Each bathroom refurbishment in the Throne Project costs just £600. The team’s effort mean we can support an additional 6 bathrooms ensuring they are an optimum area for our patients with dementia, something that is invaluable and we will be forever grateful.

Well done to Kevin Taylor, Martin Crisp, Ross Allen, Craig Bayliss, Mr Prem, Michal James, Ryan Challinor, Benjamin Bould and Time Pile. You’re all heroes and this is a fantastic accomplishment.

Click here​ to find the next charity event or email roh.charitablefunds@nhs.net to find out how you can set up your own event.

A big part of the charity’s role is to ensure our patients’ hospital experience is the best it can be.

Earlier this year we met with the Ex Cathedra Singing Medicine team in order to build a fun positive experience of being in hospital through music and song.

The amazing team that makes up Ex Cathedra were really supportive in building a programme which is bespoke to our children & young people’s service. We are a specialist hospital and sometimes our patients can struggle to get involved in activities due to their orthopaedic conditions. Ex Cathedra work really hard to ensure every patient, child and family member has the opportunity to get involved and join in the fun.

In an environment where children can feel they have lost control over their lives, singing games offer children ways of making decisions.  The Singing Medicine programme also supports areas of children’s learning and can be adapted to meet children’s individual needs as required. The deep breathing required by singing enables participants to reconnect with core muscles, and helps increase lung capacity, which of course helps the patients feel more calm and at home.  Singing activities often include some movement to increase physical mobility, and vocal tutors are actively working with physiotherapists in order to increase the development of particular muscles in conjunction with their daily excersizes, which is a great added extra for our patients.

“Investing in the experience of our patients is something we do with pride. When we heard about the success of the programme at other local hospitals, we were really keen to replicate that enhanced experience for children & young people at the ROH” Rebecca Lloyd – Head of Strategy

Working in child or family groups singing sessions relieve boredom, offers a distraction from the ward around them, and reduce social isolation, something so important in a care setting. Ex Cathedra will be joining our children & young peoples service twice a week for the next 6 weeks which is something truly special for the patients at ROH.