Gibsons x Great Ormond Street Hospital

We’ve teamed up with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to create an extra special jigsaw puzzle and raise money for the fantastic charity. Every day, 619 children & young people from across the UK arrive at Great Ormond Street Hospital and every day, doctors and nurses battle the most complex illnesses, and the brightest minds come together to achieve pioneering medical breakthroughs.

Image courtesy of healthbusinessuk.net

This extraordinary hospital has always depended on charitable support to give seriously ill children the best chance to fulfil their potential, which is why we have made a £4000 upfront donation and will donate 25p for every GOSH jigsaw puzzle we sell.

The 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle was beautifully drawn by Richard Argent, an artist specialising in historic cartoons. He has drawn this Great Ormond Street Hospital picture as a tribute to the doctors and nurses who treated him for a life threatening illness as a baby.

Our Marketing Manager, Sam, has also had a personal experience with GOSH as her younger brother Ben was treated when he was a baby, so she was thrilled to hear about our collaboration.

Here is a little more about what happened and why supporting GOSH is so important:

Ben was at GOSH when he was just one month old, in October 1998 for 4 days. He had Pyloric Stenosis, which is an uncommon condition in infants that blocks food from entering the small intestine. He was really poorly and after being diagnosed at Southend Hospital he was taken to GOSH by ambulance as the staff at Southend Hospital were unable anaesthetise such a small baby.

All the staff were incredibly kind and allowed my parents to be with Ben while he was anaesthetised. Whilst the operation was underway, we were given an alarm that’s similar to one you get in restaurants, which alerted us when Ben was out of surgery and conscious. This allowed us to leave the hospital and get some much-needed fresh air!

There were rooms available for families to use if their child needed to stay long term and you could help yourself to drinks whenever you wanted from the kitchen. The nurses were so friendly and shared stories about all the other children they have helped over the years. My mum mentioned that Ben was in the hospital during Daylight Savings, when the clocks ‘go back’ in the Autumn and she remembers that despite the nurses having to work the extra hour, they were still positive, friendly and chatty.

Thanks to GOSH, my brother made a full recovery and the staff made a stressful and scary situation as easy and calming as possible. My family and I continue to support GOSH and are so excited to complete the puzzle – we urge everyone to get their hands on a copy and help an excellent cause!