Tulisa Constostavlos, X-Factor judge and singer was mobbed by a team of doctors and nurses as she left a radio station in London’s Leicester Square. The ‘doctors and nurses’ were the licensees and team members from the Stonegate Pub Company who were raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital as part of their month long fundraiser for the charity.
Teams from London, Kent, Sussex and Surrey hit the streets and pounded the pavements to encourage members of the public to show their support and contribute towards the South East division’s fundraising target of £35,000.
Colin Hawkins, Area Manager for Stonegate’s London businesses and his team dressed up as doctors and nurses and took part in a barrel roll from the Olympic Park to London’s West End, visiting Stonegate pubs along the way. Taking a much needed pit stop at the Minories in Tower Hill, the team were treated to a refreshing pint of Krombacher or two by Julian Penny, UK representative for the brand who contributed £600 on behalf of the brewery, helping the day’s fundraising total reach an impressive £3200.
Pubs managers from Kent, Surrey and Sussex commandeered a hospital bed and pushed it from the Old Plough in Seaford along the coastal road to the Blind Busker in Hove – a total of 15 miles.
Area Manager for the pubs taking part, Simon Bradford said; “Two hundred metres into our walk, the bed got a puncture – knowing we could do it if we BandQ’d it, we dashed to the store where they donated a wheel from a cement mixer. Adding a spanner to the mix was the team from Halfords who helped us to complete the job and we were back on the road.
“We finally arrived at the Blind Busker in Hove after six hours of walking and had a well-earned drink. The team had a great time and I must say the public’s kind words and generosity was fantastic and we managed to raise just over £1000.”
Money raised over the month will go towards buying the hospital a Newborn Bloodspot Screener, a piece of equipment that allows the screening of newborn babies for serious but rare genetic conditions such as congenital sickle cell disorders and cystic fibrosis.
Last year, the division raised over £95,000 for GOSH, helping to purchase a mobile anaesthetic machine.