Two Aberdeen charities, committed to helping children across the city, and in Aberdeenshire, Moray, Orkney and Shetland have joined forces in a bid to deliver even better, more cost-effective care.
The newborn babies charity, Friends of the Special Nursery, has teamed up with The ARCHIE Foundation to share resources and administrative functions in a bid to save cash and help change the lives of even more youngsters being treated at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
FOTSN will continue as a dedicated fund within The ARCHIE Foundation.
It supports the neonatal unit at ARI’s maternity hospital by helping fund specialist equipment, advanced staff training and assistance for families of babies who are born prematurely or with illness.
Kirsty Mills-Bishop, chairwoman of the organisation, said: “FOTSN is a wonderful fundraising group, run by volunteer parents whose own babies have spent time in the neonatal unit and by staff who give up their spare time.
“They have done a great deal to help babies and their families in the unit over the years and we will continue to do exactly that, with every penny raised going to support the neonatal unit and the babies it cares for.
“However, we will now do that alongside ARCHIE, which allows us to enhance our governance, better coordinate expenditure and share our expertise to maximise the impact for local families in need of our support.”
Joe Mackie, chairman of the official charity of the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, added: “We are delighted to welcome FOTSN into the ARCHIE family.
“For the babies and families they support, and the donors who make that possible, nothing is going to change.
“While FOTSN will change their legal status to become a fund within ARCHIE, they will retain their individual identity and remain a dedicated fundraising team for the neonatal unit.
“We are always very clear in ARCHIE that money is spent where it is raised and for the purpose for which it is raised, and that will remain the case.
“The main change is that, behind the scenes, we will be collaborating very closely and, by working together, more of every pound donated will go towards making a difference for local children, which is what we always aim to achieve.”