The ARCHIE Foundation

The Difference ARCHIE has Made

The ARCHIE Foundation was set up in September 2000 with the aim of raising at least £3 million to help create a world class children’s hospital in Aberdeen for children and families in the North East of Scotland and the islands of Orkney and Shetland.

At the time NHS funding was in place for a new building and core equipment, but to make the difference between this new hospital and a world class hospital required additional funds so the ARCHIE appeal was launched.

ARCHIE’s name was derived from Aberdeen Royal Children’s Hospital is Excellent! and the ARCHIE figure was designed by children’s book illustrator Claire Mackie whose family roots are here in the North East of Scotland.

The ARCHIE Foundation appeal captured the imagination of the public and business community and by the time it closed in December 2003 a magnificent total of £5,069,599.09 had been raised through donations from 50p of pocket money to £250,000 from a business benefactor.

So when the new Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH) was opened in January 2004 it was able to do so with almost all of its equipment brand new (instead of transferred) and the many other differences which ARCHIE was able to make including -

• Every individual room in each ward would have had a reclining chair for a parent to stay overnight with a very ill child. ARCHIE enabled them all the rooms to be built one metre wider and with a built in fold down bed.
• Adjacent to the high dependency unit is a suit of rooms similar to a Travel Lodge for parents of seriously ill children to stay close by, for extended periods if necessary.
• A classroom for children to continue their learning whilst recovering.
• Play areas on every floor.
• A quiet room and a chapel where families can gather their thoughts and strength.
• Art projects throughout the hospital which create a bright, interesting, child friendly environment.
• Sensory rooms for exercise and rehabilitation.
• Equipment to make a hospital stay more bearable.
• Specialist staff to enhance the quality of life of children in the hospital including music therapist, arts co-ordinator, family support worker, pain management nurse and play leader.
• and much more

Today

At the end of such a successful appeal in December 2003 the ARCHIE Foundation continued quietly as a focal point for donating to RACH, but with a lower public profile. During 2007 NHS Grampian approached some of the original appeal committee to once again raise the profile of the ARCHIE Foundation as a major fundraising charity which could extend ‘the difference’ it makes into the communities of the area.

The new Board met in December 2007 and agreed the constitution at the centre of which was the principle that every penny raised would be spent on ‘making the difference’ to children who are patients of NHS Grampian, Orkney and Shetland both in the children’s hospital and in their own community.

With the appointment of a Director of Fundraising in April 2008 the re-launched ARCHIE Foundation took its first steps which have enabled it to achieve a great deal in its first year with exciting plans for the future.