I have been a really bad blogger of late, lots going on in my life and just have not found the time to write, I kept meaning too, but time just seemed to be running so far ahead of me I couldn't catch up.
But then I saw the X-Factor finalists performing their charity single last weekend on they show and was determined that I would make the effort and find the time to do a post about Great Ormond Street Hospital and the completely amazing job I think they do there.
Great Ormond Street has been a children's' hospital since 14Th February 1852, it only had ten beds and was a welcome addition to a city where one third of children born died before adulthood, of diseases we think little of today.
Over the years the hospital has changed and developed and grown massively in size, from those 10 beds in 1852 to well over 350 beds today, in that time as well as growing in size the amazing place has become a beacon of hope for parents with sick children all over the UK ,GOSH has the widest range of children's specialists of any UK hospital, and is the largest centre for children's heart and brain surgery as well as providing amazing care and treatment for children with cancer.
The hospital works with the Institute for Child Health and is the largest centre for research into childhood illness outside the United States, recent high profile breakthroughs include successful gene therapy for immune diseases which were made after nearly a decade of research.
I have been lucky and my child has never needed the help that GOSH can provide, but its nice to know it is there should you ever need it, they do however need all the help they can get and things like the X-Factor single benefit the charity that the hospital set up, GOSH has relied on charitable support since it first opened. The copyright of one of my all time favorite books was given to the Hospital by the author J.M.Barrie, it is of course "Peter Pan", this was his way of continuing to give his support to Great Ormond Street even long after he had gone, another of the main sources for this support is Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSHCC). The NHS meets the day to day running costs of the hospital but the fundraising income allows Great Ormond Street Hospital to be at the forefront of child health care and research into childhood illness and disease. The charity also help families whose children are in the hospital with accommodation to allow them to be with their sick children.
I think GOSH is a very worthy cause and if you are interested you can find out all about the amazing work the hospital and the charity do by going here.
