The coronavirus pandemic has meant that many NHS staff teams, and departments have not been able to take part in fundraising events and activities over the last year.

This month, the Complex Rehabilitation team at Chapel Allerton Hospital decided to take on a mammoth fundraising challenge for Leeds Hospitals Charity, to cover the distance of mainland Britain’s coastline in a month.

The Complex Rehabilitation Ward provides specialist intensive rehabilitation to patients with a range of conditions; including strokes, traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, central nervous system cancers and long-term neurological conditions.

Throughout this month, staff and patients on the ward have been joining in the challenge, to cover a whopping 17,819km by walking, cycling, running, and swimming, both outside of work and on the ward.

To achieve this distance, on average over 50 staff and patients need to cover a distance over 11km per day, and thanks to their efforts, the team are on target to reach this goal!

Michelle Kemp, Senior Sister on the ward said:

“We thought it was a great idea to make our fundraising patient-friendly and get patients involved, especially as the kitchen we’re raising funds for will make such a difference to their stay with us. This fundraising has brought us all together and helped to boost morale, there’s been lots of encouragement and motivation from both sides, it’s been a real team effort! I think it really goes to show the lengths our wonderful team will go to, to improve the hospital experience for our patients”.

The team are hoping to raise £10,000 through their fundraising events to help transform a therapy assessment kitchen for patients, which is in dire need of renovation. Any additional funds raised will help support other projects on the ward for patients, and therapy resources.

Despite battling the elements, and lots of injuries along the way, the ward staff, their families (including children), and patients have got involved to make sure the team stay on track.

The team of over 50 staff taking part in this fundraiser are set to finish over the bank holiday weekend after 31 days.

If you’d like to help the unit reach their goal, you can donate to their fundraising page here

leedshospitalscharity.enthuse.com/pf/complex-rehab-6be22