Project Hope was launched by Royal Borough of Greenwich and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust on 10 January, asking residents and local businesses to support NHS staff at this crucial time.

Charlton Athletic Community Trust is acting as a central hub to gather donations and transfer them to volunteer staff working at the hospital for distribution out to the whole hospital team.

The Project Hope JustGiving fund aims to raise £10,000 to support staff who are working long hours, under intense physical and emotionally demanding circumstances, with many unable to go home because they need to protect their own family and friends from catching the virus.

Councillor Danny Thorpe, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “I visited QEH recently, to say thank you to staff and talk to patients on the wards. Everyone there has had it hard, and their families too, so anything we can do to bring a little bit of respite or cheer is the least we can do to show our appreciation.

“It was an absolute privilege to lead our teams and volunteers out onto the wards – over 80 people are now volunteering for Project Hope - what an amazing thing each person is doing. I would also like to say a big thank you to Volunteers Centre Greenwich for mobilising so many people!”

Jason Morgan, CACT’s Chief Executive, said: “We’re very proud to be involved in a project like this with Royal Greenwich. We have worked very closely throughout the whole pandemic with the creation of the Community Hub, and I think it’s vital that we support our amazing NHS workers in any way that we can.”

Your donations will help provide:

• Food and refreshments (individually wrapped food items and snacks)
• Toiletries for when staff are taking a break, we would like to be able to offer them some comfort items to make them feel valued and allow them to carry out some much-needed self-care
• Accommodation for staff who are unable to go home would really benefit from a safe, clean room in which to recuperate between shifts (e.g., hotel or guest house, not private accommodation)

Please use the Justgiving page if you want to donate money, or if you can donate items contact CACT on:

Telephone: 0800 470 4831

Email: projecthope@cact.org.uk

If donations go over the £10,000 target, that money will be used to support other projects for frontline workers.

Find out more about Project Hope.