Thanks to the dedication of Bauvill's employees and supporters, the company has raised an incredible £60,465 since 2021. Representatives from Bauvill recently visited the hospital to celebrate their latest donation of £4,500 and reflect on the impact of their fundraising over the last five years.
During the visit, Max Scally, pre-construction director, and Hannah Turner, marketing and social value executive, met staff from the critical care unit and learned more about the lasting difference their support has made through the charity-funded 3 Wishes Project.
Since launching in 2021, the project has fulfilled 307 wishes for patients receiving end-of-life care and their loved ones. The initiative creates meaningful moments and lasting memories during some of the most difficult times. Wishes have ranged from hand-holding casts and keepsakes featuring a loved one's ECG trace, to special visits to the hospital's sensory garden.
Bauvill played a key role in helping to create the garden when it opened in 2021. The tranquil space has since become a sanctuary for patients and their families, allowing loved ones to spend precious time together outdoors, welcome cherished pets for visits, and even celebrate significant life moments, including a wedding.
Having supported the initiative for several years, Bauvill has now chosen to invest in another project that will improve patient experiences at William Harvey Hospital.
Their latest donation of £4,500 will help fund a new project within the maxillofacial department, which provides specialist care for patients with conditions affecting the face, mouth, jaw and neck. Working closely with East Kent Hospitals Charity, the department is developing a project designed to reduce feelings of anxiety before treatment through sensory interventions and environmental enhancements, such as wall murals, creating a calmer and more reassuring experience for patients.
James Abbot, deputy maxillofacial prosthetist, said: “A waiting room is not just where someone waits, it's where someone changes. They quietly turn from person to patient.
“Those facing head and neck surgery carry some of the highest levels of anxiety beforehand, and depression afterwards. The change from person to patient is a heavy one to make sitting amongst bare, poorly lit walls.
“Thanks to our hospital's charity and Bauvill, they'll wait in a woodland instead: a space made for them, not their condition.”
Dee Neligan, head of East Kent Hospitals Charity, said: "Bauvill's commitment to supporting local healthcare has been truly extraordinary. Through their support of the 3 Wishes Project they have helped hundreds of patients and families create precious memories during some of the most difficult times of their lives.
“The team at Bauvill don't just raise funds, they build genuine relationships with the projects they support. We're incredibly grateful that they have chosen to continue their partnership with us and help fund improvements that will continue to be felt for years to come.”
Max Scally, pre-construction director at Bauvill, said: “Five years on from the start of this partnership, every visit brings home just how much East Kent Hospitals Charity does for patients here, and how much of it would simply not happen otherwise.
“Hearing from the critical care team about what the 3 Wishes Project has meant to families, and then seeing what the maxillofacial department is planning, you realise how far a relatively small amount of money can travel when the right people are behind it.
“Every penny raised has come from our own people and the supply chain partners who turn up alongside them year after year, and we are proud of all of them.
“Our teams are at William Harvey Hospital most days of the week working across the estate, so we see this hospital at close quarters and have built relationships with the people who run it. Supporting the charity has never felt separate from that, it is the same commitment to the same place and we intend to keep making good on it.”
