CHRISTMAS BOOST: Sean Jordan, BTUs Chief Operating Officer, left, with a giant-sized cheque for £500 we raised for the Rocky Appeal at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth.
Patients at Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital are to benefit from a sporting fundraiser by a water industry contractor.
BTU, which employs 260 people and provides mechanical and electrical work for Southern Water’s water and wastewater supply assets, donated £500 to the Rocky Appeal.
The money was raised by a memorial golf day that BTU, headquartered near Portsmouth, runs annually for the late Dave Willoughby, a highly-regarded project engineer at the firm.
Held just north of the port city, the event helped pay for the hospital’s Da Vinci Robot.
Surgeons use assistive robotic technology for keyhole surgery, which is less invasive that traditional open surgery.
Sean Jordan, BTU’s Chief Operating Officer, handed over the cheque at the NHS hospital to organisers of the Rocky Appeal.
He said: “Dave’s memory is still very alive with BTU colleagues who worked with him in the early years when BTU became operational in April 2009.
“Our annual golf day, now in its seventh year, is our way of remembering Dave whilst raising money for good causes in his name. With Christmas nearly upon us, our thoughts are with Dave’s family.”
Mick Lyons, the hospital’s Appeals Co-ordinator, said the donation will help towards raising £2.4 million for a Da Vinci Robot.
He added: “Thanks to all of our stalwart supporters we now only need to raise £216,000 to reach our target.
“To enable us to be in the forefront of robotic surgery we decided to obtain the robot now. However, we still need to make regular payments on it.
“Our amazing team of surgeons use this equipment daily. We are one of a very few hospitals in the country to have this wonderful kit and are very proud that it is already helping many people throughout the south east of England.”
QA is officially the European Training Centre for Robotic Surgery and the city is a leading international centre for robotic keyhole surgery.
