Over the Finish Line: How You Helped Us Exceed Our Appeal Target

We are thrilled to share some wonderful news: thanks to an incredible final push from our community, our Winter Appeal has raised £33,800.

Not only did we hit our £30,000 goal, but your extra generosity means we can go even further than we dared hope, ensuring that our most essential services can be funded for the year ahead.

To everyone who donated, shared our appeal, or supported us in any way: thank you. Your generosity has made this possible, and we are profoundly grateful.

What your support will fund

The appeal set out with a mission to safeguard two core, unfunded areas of our work: Hospital Chaplaincy and Patient Support. Your donations have secured both.

Hospital Chaplaincy: £10,000

Hospital chaplaincy is a constant at Mildmay, a source of comfort and spiritual support for people of all faiths and none. It is present at the bedside in moments of fear, grief, and crisis.

£10,000 will directly fund our chaplain's salary and some of the essential services for the year ahead, including patient visits and counselling, memorials and bereavement support, and helping patients and families process trauma and change.

Patient Support & Core Costs: £20,000

This funding is the bedrock of our high-quality specialist care. It keeps our hospital running safely and ensures stability for our most vulnerable patients.

£20,000 will help to cover the cost if everyday essentials that make rehabilitation and complex care possible: rehabilitation equipment and supplies, nutritious food for individuals recovering from illness and post-detox stabilisation, essential personal items that restore comfort and stability to our patients, and vital training for our skilled clinical teams.

This fund helps to ensure that when a patient has nowhere else to turn, Mildmay's doors can remain open.

The Stretch Goal: Education Exchange Programme

With £3,800 raised above our original target, we can also invest further in our Education Exchange Programme - our initiative to help strengthen care for vulnerable communities by sending UK clinicians to serve at Mildmay Uganda Hospital in Kampala.

This is a true exchange. It strengthens care and shares knowledge in resource-limited settings in Uganda while building critical skills, resilience, adaptability, and leadership that clinicians bring home to the NHS.

Following a pause due to health guidance around Mpox in the region, we are thrilled that the next cohort of students and clinicians is back on track for their visit in September. We will be sure to keep you updated on their progress. Find out more about the Education Exchange Programme.

How we reached our target

The appeal ran from the beginning of December 2025 through to 31 March 2026. By the end of March, we had raised £28,000, achingly close to our target but not quite there.

But by 13 April, we had received a further £5,500 in unexpected donations from supporters who had been following the appeal and wanted to help us cross the finish line. With those final gifts, we exceeded our target and closed the appeal at £33,800.

We are doubly humbled and thankful, not only for the support itself, but for the timing. These donations arrived exactly when they were needed most.

Why your support matters

Around 90% of the hospital’s running costs are covered by our NHS contracts, but every year we must raise the final 10% ourselves. That gap is what keeps our most essential services open.

Your donations directly protect the care and dignity of the people who rely on Mildmay most: people living with complex and compounding illnesses, including HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders, mental health challenges, and homelessness. We are often the only place they can turn.

Running a modern hospital costs about £12,000 per day. These contributions from supporters like you ensure that we can continue to provide the holistic, person-centred care that defines Mildmay.

Looking ahead

In the months ahead, we will be reporting on how the appeal funds are being deployed. We hope to share stories from the people whose lives this support has touched, and updates on what we hope to achieve in the UK and through our new Uganda Health Programme.

Thank you once again for standing alongside us. Your kindness helps ensure that Mildmay remains a place of dignity, hope, and specialist care for people who have often been pushed to the margins.

The Mildmay Team

If you’d like to see your impact in action, sign up for our newsletter using the form below to receive the stories and updates we’ll be sharing from the ward and our Uganda programme.

If you would like to support Mildmay's ongoing work, you can make a donation here.