A children’s cancer charity which has raised nearly £1million towards patient care and the rebuild and re-equipping of parts of Croydon’s Mayday Hospital has been forced to close its fund-raising shop in the reception area because of rising rents.
Mayday!: the charity shop in the main entrance at Croydon’s largest hospital closed last week
The Chartwell Cancer Trust’s shop at Croydon University Hospital closed last week, leaving volunteers saddened and angry that “greedy landlords” had forced them out.
The commercial areas at the NHS-run hospital are managed by a separate landlord.
According to a spokesperson for the NHS Trust today, they had been subsidising all or part of the charity’s shop rent until 2022. But when a co-operation arrangement over fund-raising for a children’s cancer unit came to an end that year, so did the rent subsidy.
The charity had handed over £750,000 from its Lily Pad Appeal which helped to pay for the hospital’s new Rainbow Unit.
Once the subsidy was removed, the Chartwell Cancer Trust could no longer afford the £25,000 per year rent that was being demanded.
It is nearly four years since Chartwell Cancer Trust’s Lily Pad Appeal hit its daunting fund-raising target to assist towards the development of a critical care unit and children’s cancer unit. The Rainbow Unit opened to its first patients in 2022.
The charity has since continued to provide hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding for equipment for the children’s unit, including play areas and study aids for young patients trying to keep up with their schooling while attending hospital appointments, as well as providing support and transport for families caring for young cancer patients.
The charity provided around 10% of the budgeted cost of Croydon University Hospital’s new unit, with some of the money raised coming from its reception area shop which, according to the hospital’s own website, “sells a range of goods, the proceeds of which help buy items to assist with patient care”.
Not any more it doesn’t.
Bagged up: the Chartwell Cancer Trust’s fund-raising efforts have done much for Croydon
According to one angry volunteer at the shop, the landlords “have upped the rent of a small shop to an amount we can no longer afford”.
They said, “Us volunteers, all customers (including staff from the hospital) and patients are against this, but there’s nothing we can do.
“The shop provides affordable equipment, helps patients as they can stretch their legs and find a book, clothes or something else that would be beneficial for them.
“Now, as far as we know, it’s going to be left empty.
“What a waste of space and how greedy of the landlords.
“I’ve enjoyed volunteering there since 2018 and to see it empty is going to be upsetting. At least the Rainbow Unit was made in Croydon University Hospital to help children with cancer.”
The Trust still operates fund-raising shops in Selsdon, Peckham, Tatsfield and Westerham.
“A huge part of our fundraising is through our charity shops,” the Chartwell Cancer Trust says on its website.
“The proceeds from your donations help us to improve facilities, fund clinical research and capital projects, enhance staff levels, as well as to deliver a range of support to young oncology patients and their families in our local communities.
“We are a small charity with a big commitment and every penny we raise is used where it is needed most.”
A Croydon Health Services NHS Trust spokesperson told Inside Croydon: “As a public service, our utmost priority is to ensure the efficient and effective use of NHS resources to deliver the best possible care for our patients.
“For the duration of the four-year partnership between the Trust and Chartwell Cancer Trust, the charity was offered a shop within the main entrance at Croydon University Hospital to support its fundraising efforts, paid for by the NHS.
“Following the end of the partnership in 2022, this space was offered to the charity to self-fund, to maintain its presence within the hospital. Sadly, they were unable to take on the financial costs.
“We remain incredibly grateful to Chartwell Cancer Trust and their fundraisers for their support and generous donations towards our paediatric oncology unit and would welcome the opportunity to work with them in the future to support appropriate projects.”
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