Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants (WHR), the UK’s leading hospitality company, today pledged £7.5m towards the construction of the Premier Inn Clinical Building at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The Premier Inn Clinical Building will be located within the Mittal Children’s Medical Centre at the hospital and will open in 2017. It is part of the second phase of the hospital’s redevelopment programme which will allow the hospital to treat up to 20 per cent more children.
The new building will provide much needed new in-patient wards, more operating theatres and a recovery unit. It will contain a new surgery centre, respiratory centre and specialist centre for children with severe forms of arthritis, skin conditions or infectious diseases.
WHR run Premier Inn, Beefeater Grill, Brewers Fayre, Table Table and Taybarns restaurants. They announced Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity as their nominated charity in May 2012. Much of the fundraising is expected to take place in more than 650 Premier Inn hotels and 380 restaurants across the country. WHR has already raised £1m towards the £7.5m target.
Neal Donnelly, Director of Corporate Partnerships at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity said:
“We would like to thank everyone at Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants for their hard work and generosity to date and for the wonderful new pledge they are making today. This money will be put to really good use, helping us transform the hospital and making a real difference for our patients and their families.”
Simon Ewins, Business Development and Corporate Responsibility Director for WHR comments:
“On behalf of thousands of our team members and millions of guests who have been a part of our fundraising this last year I am extremely proud to say that we have reached £1million – a phenomenal achievement which will help some of the sickest children from all over the UK.”
“As we approach our one-year anniversary supporting Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity it gives me great pleasure to announce our new pledge to raise £7.5 million for the Premier Inn Clinical Building.”