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CTM UHB Staff Help Give the Gift of Kindness Over the Festive Season

Gift of Kindness Banner - Woman gifting food to another person

This festive season, CTM UHB staff and services have been working hard to bring our community together and support those in need through donations, fundraising, volunteering, and other small acts of kindness.

As the festive season draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the incredible generosity and community spirit that defined this year’s Gift of Kindness campaign.

Supported by the Cwm Taf Morgannwg NHS Charity, the campaign featured over 30 initiatives supporting 23 local charities and organisations.

While we’re highlighting just a few of these inspiring efforts, we know there are many more stories of generosity across CTM UHB. We would love to hear about them and your experience if you took part in the campaign—please share your experiences and feedback through our Gift of Kindness Feedback Form.

Staff-Led Initiatives Making a Difference
The Gift of Kindness campaign was open to everyone but CTM UHB staff took the lead in embracing the festive spirit and giving back to their communities.

The Designed to Smile and Gwen am Byth Oral Health Improvement teams chose Hope Rescue as their Christmas charity, collecting hampers full of supplies for rescue dogs. Their efforts were rewarded with a visit from Valerie the bulldog, who gave her enthusiastic seal of approval.

Rebecca Lloyd with Valerie the Bulldog Local Public Health Team making donation to the Macmillan Unit at Prince Charles Hospital.

Reflecting on the donation, Rebecca Lloyd, Oral Health Programme Lead, said: “The oral health teams voted for our chosen Christmas charity, and Hope Rescue was a clear winner. We wanted to make a difference to the dogs in rescue over the festive period and to support the hard work Hope Rescue do—not just at Christmas, but every day, giving dogs in rescue a second chance.”

The Local Public Health Team decided to make a thoughtful donation to the Macmillan Unit at Prince Charles Hospital. They arranged a collection at their Christmas Team Away Day which included items to help patients with the side effects of treatment and some Christmas treats. The team collected the items with help from staff member Rachel Reed, who went through treatment at the unit in 2019 and wanted to give back.

Speaking about her team’s response to the collection, Rachel said: “I have received fantastic support from colleagues since returning from treatment and this will be our third year of collecting for the Macmillan unit. Due to being a patient myself, I know how vital acts of kindness are, especially at this time of year.”

The Pharmacy team at Prince Charles Hospital chose to gather support for Tesco Merthyr’s food drive. Tesco not only matched every donation to the foodbank, but they also provided Christmas gifts for patients staying at the hospital over the Christmas period on Ward 3, Ward 21, Ward 31, and the SCBU.

Pharmacy Team with Christmas gifts received from Tesco for patients staying at Wards 3, 21, 31 and SCBU in Prince Charles Hospital over the Christmas period. Pharmacy Team from Prince Charles Hospital making a donation to Merthyr Tesco

On the success of their initiative, Kirsty Jones, Senior Pharmacy Assistant, said: “It went amazingly well. Along with the food donations, we also raised over £300 for the foodbank and Tesco were also able to donate gifts to more wards than originally planned.”

Other staff-led initiatives included:

  • The ITU psychology, medical, and nursing teams raised funds to support Pets As Therapy (PAT) volunteers and their therapy dogs, whose visits have brought comfort and joy to patients, families, and staff alike. Their fundraising included a Junior Half Marathon that raised over £250.
  • The Home Service Team at Dewi Sant Health Park embraced the spirit of giving by swapping Secret Santa for a foodbank collection, providing essentials for local families in Pontypridd. Their collection draws to a close on the 20th Dec.
  • The Older Persons Community Mental Health Team raised £802 through their Elf Day bake sale to support the Alzheimer’s Society.
  • The RGH MMPU team collected 15 gift boxes for the Age Cymru Gift Box Appeal, giving Christmas gifts to lonely and isolated older people.
  • At Williamstown Hub, Medical Records staff prepared shoebox gifts for residents of Clydach Court Care Home, spreading festive joy to older members of the community.
  • Dewi Sant Health Park Physio Department partnered with the charity Re-engage to volunteer their time to host a Christmas session for older adults at their new activity group in Pontypridd Museum, bringing festive cheer to participants.

Reflecting on the campaign’s success, Abe Sampson, Head of Charity and Income Generation for CTM UHB, said: "Seeing so many staff members embrace our Gift of Kindness campaign has been inspiring and it really shows the difference we can make through generosity and teamwork. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to make a contribution and give something back to the local charities that support us every day."

Patients, family or friends looking to make festive gifts and donations across any of our hospital wards can be signposted to our Cwm Taf Morgannwg NHS Charity (the official registered charity for CTM UHB) here.

The Charity can also support if you’re interested in fundraising for your local team, hospital or health board service. For more information or to discuss your ideas, please get in touch with the Charity team at ctm.charity@wales.nhs.uk.

18/12/2024