The Brighton Grand raises over £16,000 for new neonatal ventilator

The iconic Brighton seafront hotel has raised the £16,250 donation for Rockinghorse over the past year, despite having to close its doors for several months. 

The Grand has been a supporter of Rockinghorse Children’s Charity for many years, regularly holding events at the hotel in aid of the charity.

However, as the hospitality sector has faced significant upheaval over the last couple of years, the normal fundraising events they organise simply weren’t possible. Added to which, they also had to close their doors completely for around nine months during the past couple of years.

But this didn’t stop the staff team at the hotel finding new ways that they could support the charity.

And the main idea they came up with was to add a discretionary charity donation of £2 onto every room booked at the hotel. And this small donation added up to a total of over £16,000 being raised for Rockinghorse!

Michele Goering, PA to the Managing Director of the Grand, explained more about their fundraising: “It was really important to everyone here at The Grand that despite the challenges the hotel was facing, we continued to help this great local charity. 

“And our guests couldn’t have been more generous! We are so proud to have been able to raise such an amazing amount for Rockinghorse.”

These funds are being put towards the purchase of a new neonatal ventilator for the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton. This ventilator is specifically designed to help babies under 5kg in weight be nursed at the hospital as quickly as possible. 

Not only does this help them get the treatment they need, but it also avoids them having to be transferred to London, therefore reducing the length of time they need to stay in hospital and hopefully making the whole process easier on them and their families.

Donna Holland, Rockinghorse CEO, thanked the team at the hotel for all their support: “Over the last few years we have seen some amazing support shown by local businesses, and The Grand is no exception. Not only did they have to manage being closed for so many months, but they also had to show such incredible resilience to manage the ongoing uncertainty the hospitality sector was facing.

“So, to be able to fundraise such an amazing amount under these circumstances is just incredible. We are so thankful to the whole staff team and every single guest that visited the hotel and donated to us. All this generosity has resulted in us being able to help so many sick babies in the future.”

Michele added: “It’s wonderful to know that thanks to our guests, we have been able to provide such an important piece of equipment for our local children’s hospital. And we can’t wait to come up with many more fundraising ideas so that we can continue to support Rockinghorse in the future.”

To find out more about Rockinghorse and how they support sick children throughout Sussex, take a look at their website at www.rockinghorse.org.uk.