Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) has welcomed a new role that will shine a spotlight on the Trust’s charity.
Daria Ansari-Saeid has been appointed as Marketing Officer for the SHINE fund, which helps support people accessing mental health, learning disabilities and neuro-rehabilitation services by providing the extra things that can make a real difference.
Daria takes on the role having previously worked as a marketing and communications assistant within the Trust’s communications team.
The new role, which has been funded by NHS Charities Together, focuses on developing and implementing a fundraising strategy for SHINE to help raise the charity’s profile and maximise donations so it can support more patient and carer wellbeing initiatives across the Trust.
A key part of the strategy is to promote the charity’s impact by sharing the projects it supports, as well as exploring new opportunities to work with organisations in public, private and voluntary sectors.
Since starting the role in August 2023, Daria has supported a number of fundraisers including colleagues Paul Wales and Dr Mohammed Elhamshary’s long distance cycle from the Tyne Bridge to Nice which raised over £4,000 for SHINE, and Peter Prest and Paul Hewitson’s fundraiser song ‘Where Hope Begins’.
Part of the role involves introducing different ways to support the charity, such as the new textiles donation bin which can be found in St Nicholas Hospital car park.
Daria has also worked on the charity’s relaunch and has been instrumental in its rebrand which revealed a colourful, new look to reflect the charity’s values.
“I’m really excited to continue helping the charity grow so that it can support more people in our services with improved environments, resources and activities,” she said.
Funds from SHINE have supported service users with everything from horse-riding outings to gardening tools, bikes, and even Christmas decorations for wards.
The funding does not replace the money used to fund care. Instead, it provides the ‘little extras’ that help people live happier, fuller lives.
Daria’s role is to promote the work of SHINE, offering an increased level of support to people who want to fundraise or support the charity in any way.
“By raising awareness of the different projects that funding from SHINE has made possible, I hope to share the positive impact the charity has made to the wellbeing and experience of patients receiving care in our services.”
She added: “SHINE really does make a difference to people’s lives, and I hope that by amplifying the message we are able to gain more support for the charity so that it can continue to benefit more people across the North East and North Cumbria.”
Daria’s advice for anyone thinking about supporting SHINE is to go for it.
“We’ve had great feedback from staff who have fundraised, saying they didn’t expect to get the response and donations that they did,” she said.
“Have fun with it. How you fundraise is up to you. Many staff have been able to involve patients in activities like decorating cakes for a bake sale. We’ve seen staff run market stalls, host festivals and parties, and organise raffles – the options are endless!”
Marketing manager Sharon Brennan said: “The support we have received from NHS Charities Together has been amazing and we have already seen an increase in support for our Trust charity which is fantastic.
“I can’t wait to see what we achieve in 2024 raising even more funds to benefit the wellbeing of our patients and their carers.”
For fundraising ideas, go to the A-Z fundraising guide on the SHINE webpage.
For more information or if you would like to fundraise, please contact [email protected]
NHS Charities Together is the national charity caring for the NHS. It offers grants to provide vital help to patients, staff and volunteers, enabling the NHS to do more.