Charity Profile: Brighter Futures

Nature of work - Supporting the work of Swindon's Great Western

Hospital through appeals and events
Founded - 2013
Address - Great Western Hospital, Swindon SN3 6BB
Telephone - 01793 605631
Website - brighterfuturesgwh.nhs.uk

Brighter Futures is the charity of Swindon's Great Western Hospital.
We aim to provide an extraordinary provision of care to our patients. We do that by funding a variety of projects which are focused on improving patient and staff experience.
Every penny given to Brighter Futures is used to make a difference to someone at what is often the most difficult and vulnerable time in their life.
You can donate funds to a specific ward or area of work, or you can support an appeal.
Alternatively, you can donate money to our general fund.
From cake sales to marathons, abseils to skydives, your fundraising efforts have helped us to change the lives of thousands of patients in Swindon and Wiltshire.
By signing up to our events, fundraising in support of Brighter Futures, and making donations, you can help to provide an extraordinary provision of care at the Great Western Hospital.
Why support the NHS with donations? The NHS is funded mainly from general taxation and National Insurance contributions. Some funding is generated by user charges such as charges for prescriptions and dental treatment.
However, these charges account for only a small proportion of NHS income.
The level of NHS funding each year is set by Central Government through the Spending Review process.
Demand is increasing. The population of Swindon and Wiltshire is increasing, and people are living for longer. 

The British population is not only growing – up 12% over the next 20 years – but getting older too; the number of people aged over 75 will be 73% higher by 2036. We need to spend more just to keep pace with demographic change.
As well as this the NHS buys a very select group of goods and services – syringes, drugs, doctors, MRI scanners.
Historically, the prices of these things have tended to rise faster than broader measures of inflation.
The NHS doesn’t just produce hip operations and blood tests. Its outputs have knock on effects, which ultimately can be measured in terms of a healthier workforce, with fewer absences due to sickness.
The NHS doesn’t just alleviate disease but also improves the economic wellbeing of the country.
Polls of the public’s views about the NHS invariably rank it as one of Britain’s most loved and admired institutions. But regardless of how our health care is funded, meeting the rising demand for services and transforming care in response to a growing and ageing population and changing patterns of disease is an issue and budgets are stretched.
Working to make the lives of countless people better
NHS charities such as Brighter Futures enable hospitals like the Great Western Hospital to realise patient benefit much sooner by enhancing the environment for patients and staff.
It is in that environment that health services can be delivered, enabling carers and staff caring for patients to benefit from education and facilities not normally available within NHS funding.
In addition, the organisation can fund extra equipment and staffing to the Trust above the NHS funding envelope.
Full details of the work carried out by Brighter Futures to enhance the lives of patients can be found on its website.
The charity has a broad range of appeals and welcomes enquiries from people wanting to find out how they might join the growing band of Brighter Futures supporters.