Vision Matters: A 12-inch canvas for charity
Charities for 2022
Bliss:
Bliss exists to give every baby born premature or sick in the UK the best chance of survival and quality of life. It champions their right to receive the best care by supporting families, campaigning for change and supporting professionals, and enabling life-changing research. Bliss was founded in 1979 by a group of concerned parents who discovered that no hospital had all the equipment nor the trained staff it needed to safely care for premature and sick babies.
Determined to do something, these volunteers formed a charity to give vulnerable babies the care they deserve. 40 years later Bliss has grown into the leading UK charity for the 100,000 babies born needing neonatal care every year. For more information click here
Sands
Sands is the stillbirth and neonatal death charity. Founded in 1978, Sands exists to reduce the number of babies dying and to ensure that anyone affected by the death of a baby receives the best possible care and support for as long as they need it wherever they are in the UK.
It works to reduce the number of babies dying and to better understand the causes of baby deaths. Sands works with governments and other organisations to drive change and raise awareness of the issues relating to baby loss. Sands provides bereavement support services at both a local and national level. These include the Sands Freephone helpline, mobile app, online community, family support packs, memory boxes and over 100 regional support groups run by trained befrienders.
Sands works to improve bereavement care available to parents and families, by offering a range of training programmes and resources and working in partnership with health care professionals, trusts and health boards. For more information click here
The Epping Breast Unit Charity
Raising funds for a new state-of-the-art mobile breast screening van.
The Epping Breast Unit in St. Margaret’s Hospital, Epping, is fundraising for a new state of the art mobile screening van.
The fundraising is being led by Councillor Don Patel of Sawbridgeworth to recognise the immense work of Mr Michael Morgan, Consultant Breast, Endocrine and General Surgeon over the period 1982 to 2003. His work as a surgeon within the unit for over 20 years and his leadership, led to the introduction of multi-disciplinary team working. Mr Morgan was also instrumental in setting up the research unit which still continues today.
The mobile screening van will cover the population in West Essex and East Hertfordshire including Sawbridgeworth, Epping, Harlow, Bishop’s Stortford and surrounding villages. Eligible women will have mammograms in the mobile unit which are then reported on by the Breast Screening Team. The new mobile van will bring vital screening services closer to patients, making them more accessible and increasing the use of this service.
About 1 in 8 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. If it’s detected early, treatment is more successful and there’s a good chance of recovery. Breast screening aims to find breast cancers early. It uses an x-ray test called a mammogram that can spot cancers when they’re too small to see or feel. (NHS UK 2019)
All women aged 50 up to their 71st birthday are invited for breast screening every three years. Invitations for screening are sent out sometime between a woman’s 50th and 53rd birthdays. Some older and younger women are also being invited as part of a study of screening in different age groups.
Women aged 71 or over are still at risk of breast cancer, after this age, women are not automatically sent an invitation for screening. Screening is still available from this age, but women will need to contact their local breast screening unit to arrange an appointment.