ibis Styles Barnsley Embraces 10th Anniversary Celebrations
The ibis Styles Barnsley has this week adopted important “neighbour” the Embrace sick childrens’ transport scheme as its charity for the year following celebrations to mark the hotel’s 10th anniversary.
Hotel General Manager Dawne Carter and her team donated a cheque for £500 to help fund vital equipment for Embrace, a highly specialist, round-the-clock transport service for critically ill infants and children across Yorkshire and the Humber who require care in another hospital in the region or further afield.
The Embrace acute medical referral call centre, which takes over 3,600 emergency calls each year, is located just metres from the ibis Styles and the hotel has a successful decade-long link to the scheme. Each night or day of the year, a hotel room is available for the specialist consultant on call to use in order to be close to the call centre.
Emergency calls to Embrace requesting transport for seriously ill babies, infants and mothers to be to be taken to a hospital can come at any time of the day or night. The hotel offers a welcome refuge for the consultant on call, a place to rest, get a hot meal and a warm drink before responding to the ext call.
Members of the Embrace medical team including specialist nurses, a consultant and manager of the acute call centre, arrived at the hotel by ambulance, giving guests the opportunity to take a look inside at the specialist equipment used by the service.
Speaking at the hotel’s celebration event on Monday, Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Stephen Hancock told guests how important the work of Embrace is. “We look after patients, babies, that weigh as little as 400g right up to teenagers aged 15. We are delighted to accept the donation and to become the Ibis Styles fund raising project for the next 12 months. This money will go towards vital equipment, perhaps towards further training. Although we are funded by the NHS, we do need support from local businesses.”
The donation marks the start of twelve months of events the hotel team will undertake to help give further support to Embrace.
Presenting the cheque, General Manager Dawne said: “We are absolutely delighted to be celebrating ten brilliant years for the hotel with a great future to follow. We are also thrilled to help support Embrace. It is an amazing service so vital to seriously ill babies and children from our region. We know the Embrace team well so it seemed only fitting that we should help support them this year.”
Stephen added: “I must have stayed at the hotel well over 400 times whilst on call. It is always great to be able to get your head down in a warm comfortable room even though sometimes we don’t make it back to the hotel until 6 or 7am. The staff never rush us out and are always very friendly and helpful. I certainly know the night porter really well! It makes such a huge difference to have somewhere to stay so close by to Embrace. Every second can be crucial in an emergency.”
The ibis Styles Barnsley nd Embrace both celebrate important milestones this year as the transport scheme, linked to Sheffield Children's’ Hospital will also be 10 years old in November.
