Starbucks Paddington Central

Starlight Children’s Foundation grants wishes to seriously and terminally ill children and entertains over half a million children every year in hospitals and hospices throughout the United Kingdom. All Starlight’s activities are aimed at distracting children from the pain, fear and isolation they can often feel as a result of their illnesses. When Starlight began in 1986, we helped just four children; today, we help over 500,000 children every year all over the UK. Wherever possible, we include the whole family, strengthening family bonds during difficult times and providing happy memories for everyone to share, no matter what the future may hold. Starlight receives neither Government nor Lottery support.

The Adnan Jaffery Educational Trust, trading as One Degree, is made up of volunteer mentors, former students, teachers, education specialists and London professionals, who mentors GCSE students in London. Since 2009 we have worked with 325 pupils below the floor standards for educational attainment, and helped them improve their GCSE performance by up to 40%. This educational boost not only opens professional doors for our students, but increases self-confidence, ultimately changing their life direction. We know that by helping children change their life direction by one degree it can make all the difference. Our results are not purely academic though. One Degree turns out young people who believe in themselves and confidently advance towards productive, rewarding careers.

What makes St Mary’s children’s intensive care unit so special? The St Mary’s PICU is a “super speciality” service that is only available in a few hospitals nationwide. COSMIC is an important part of what makes St Mary’s busy eight bedded unit one of the most effective in the country: • It is the only unit in the country to specialise in care for children with acute life threatening conditions such as toxic shock, meningitis, meningococcal septicaemia, bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Before they were admitted to St Mary’s due to accident or sudden illness, these children were perfectly well. •Due to the specialist skills developed on the unit, it is at the heart of internationally significant research into life threatening childhood disease. •The children’s intensive care unit at St Mary’s has pioneered a retrieval service, collecting children who are too sick to be moved from other hospitals without PICU facilities. Every year we treat around 500 desperately sick children. Although around 20% are from the local area, the majority have been rushed to the hospital from Greater London and the South East. Without the specialist care they receive at St Mary’s they would likely die or be left with a permanent disability. Donations to COSMIC genuinely help us save lives. How COSMIC helps... COSMIC raises around £350,000 each year to help ensure that St Mary’s children’s intensive care unit can continue helping critically ill children. Our charity funds: •Vital state of the art medical equipment that helps save lives. •We support parents through the provision of accommodation enabling them to be close to their child through this hugely stressful time. •Provide emotional, financial and practical support for families and guardians of patients, including emergency items, travel costs and bereavement support. •An education programme that ensures the units highly specialised doctors and nurses can continue their training and development.