John Laing stand by our NHS Heroes

Long-standing supporters John Laing stand by our NHS Heroes when they need them most

One of the charity's long-term supporters is the John Laing Group and their associated John Laing Charitable Trust. They have recently donated generously to Alder Hey Children’s Charity to help to fund our Employee Assistance Programme – a 24 hour service providing advice and counselling to our staff across the NHS Trust. This service is being provided right now, when it is needed most by our hardworking teams who have faced additional pressure and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff have worked around the clock to support our brave, young patients and their families, including supporting our amazing hospital to triple its intensive care capacity. They needed the helping hand immediately, and our friends at John Laing have helped to make that happen.

We caught up with them last week and to chat about why mental health, wellbeing and Alder Hey mean so much to them:

John Laing is a long-standing and proud supporter of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Charity. Being an active member of the communities in which we work is important to us and, particularly at this very challenging time for all NHS workers, we are delighted to contribute to this vital service for essential workers who are doing so much for us all. As an employer and partner in many projects worldwide, we know how important good health and wellbeing is to the people we are responsible for. We have many people working on our projects as well as in offices, and safety and wellbeing are critical to everything we do. Mental Health Awareness Week is a good time to raise awareness and put a spotlight on the work that needs to be done, while our focus on this important area continues as we try to understand and improve ways we can help our colleagues every day.

The international infrastructure specialist are loyal friends to our charity and have shown an amazing level of commitment to supporting Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. This has included a gift of £40,000 to our new Alder Centre, from their company and Charitable Trust collectively.

The Alder Centre has been recognised for its outstanding approach to childhood bereavement services as a model of best practice. Our new Alder Centre will be a place of sanctuary and peace for bereaved families and individuals, offering a variety of services including bespoke counselling sessions, holistic therapies, and emergency bereavement care.

The Alder Centre bereavement service currently supports over 2,000 families each year coping with the devastating loss of a child from a wide geographical area.

The John Laing Charitable Trust’s generous donation of £40,000 will allow us to provide the holistic therapy service with a dedicated space which will include comfortable furnishings and top of the range equipment. Their donation will also allow us to furnish the many gardens and green spaces which play a major role in the Alder Centre’s design, offering families peace and privacy.

A huge thank you again to John Laing Group and the John Laing Charitable Trust for supporting the wellbeing of our NHS staff and for their generous donation to our new Alder Centre. We know that the Alder Centre team can’t wait to move into their new home and the gift from John Laing will make it extra special.