Barts900 is a campaign to celebrate the nine centuries of care delivered by St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
St Bartholomew’s is the oldest hospital in the country that’s still providing care on its original grounds. Established in 1123, by Rahere, a courtier of Henry I, it joined the Barts Health NHS Trust in 2012.
In recognition of this milestone, a range of ambitious fundraising projects have been announced. Early plans include building a centre of excellence for breast cancer surgery at St Bartholomews and a new clinical research facility at the Royal London.
In the run up to the anniversary, a year-long celebration is also planned to recognise the history of the trust and the care it has delivered on site.
Professor Charles Knight, Chief Executive at St Bartholomew’s, said: “We want to use this amazing anniversary to propel us forward, to act as a spur towards raising money for world-leading medicine, health and wellbeing and education. It’s a huge chance to tell our story to the world.”
Group Chief Executive, Alwen Williams added: “We know there will be a widening of health inequalities and our communities will suffer. All our staff have a huge commitment to deliver a legacy coming out of COVID for our patients and this anniversary really gives us the chance to do that.”
The initial fundraising target is set at £15 million, and the campaign has been backed by HRH the Prince of Wales, who is a patron of Barts Heritage.
Barts Heritage is a charity setup to manage and renovate the iconic buildings on the site, which include the Grade I listed North Wing, and a staircase painted by William Hogarth.
As part of the anniversary, Will Palin, CEO of Barts Heritage, will lead the charity to preserve and improve the current infrastructure and install wellbeing facilities for Barts staff.
