Business News The Griffin Report


In just over a decade, Louise McCathie has revolutionised fund-raising at the renowned Birmingham Women's and Children’s hospitals. But now the Covid-19 pandemic has imposed grave uncertainty on the whole process. Chamberlink’s award-winning columnist Jon Griffin spoke to Louise about her determination to preserve the fund-raising spirit at the hospitals in the face of unprecedented challenges.


is impressively defiant. “You have to look for the silver


I


lining. Covid-19 has done that. It has brought us together more than ever. Things like free transport, free parking, accommodation – they can all play their part. It has provided opportunities, creativity and innovation is thriving.” It's precisely that sort of positive


thinking which led to Louise being appointed director of fund-raising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity at the age of just 33 in January, 2014. The facts speak for themselves.


Louise had joined the charity in 2009 and in just over a decade the hospital's fund-raising income has more than tripled from around £1.5 million a year to a total of £6.5 million. In 2014, she won Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce's Future Face of Business Award and in 2015 added to that with the Gill Astarita Fundraiser of the Year Award at the Institute of Fundraising. The same year saw her team win Fundraising Team of the Year at the Charity Times Awards, beating off competition from the likes of Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK and the Brain Tumour Charity. In 2017 Birmingham Children’s


Hospital and Birmingham Women’s Hospital came together to form Birmingham Women's and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. The integration meant Louise became director of fund-raising for Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity. She is a former chair of the


Association of NHS Charities Fund- Raising Group, a role in which she nurtured future leaders and shared her experiences with other organisations. She is also on the Board of Trustees at Mac Birmingham, the popular city arts complex which attracts over 850,000 visits every year. It's an impressive CV, and Louise


is determined to use the knowledge and experience gained


20 CHAMBERLINK June/July 2020


n the midst of the world’s worst public health scare for more than 100 years, Louise McCathie


Innovating: Louise McCathie


‘The Children’s Hospital is well-known locally and we need to make it known internationally. It's vice-versa for the Women’s Hospital’


over the last decade at the heart of one of the Midlands’ best-known charities to propel the organisation to further prosperity, the shocking realities of Covid-19 notwithstanding. “When I started, the charity was


hidden in splendid isolation. We had been quite humble, we didn’t shout about our achievements. A starting point was just being better at communication. Internally, are we visible? Externally, are we visible? “The fund-raising office used to


be called a Donations Office. People used to think it was for giving blood and samples – we used to have 40 visitors a month.


“Today our Fund-raising Hub


has 38,000 visitors a year. It is all about 'how do we grow that presence, externally and internally.’ “It (fund-raising) is a very noisy


environment, and you have to treat it like a business. We are now trying to grow the brand for the Women’s Hospital, but it is eight years behind.” The business-like approach


encouraged by Louise has paid off in recent years, with income tripling, but today’s 24-7 corporate environment means that she and the 35-strong team cannot afford to rest on their laurels. It's an approach rooted in the very fabric of the organisation.


Founded by Dr Thomas Heslop in 1862, the original mortgage on the Steelhouse Lane site was paid off following a successful fund-raising appeal. It's that sort of pedigree and


tradition, combined with an awareness that the world, charitable and elsewhere, is constantly evolving, that is still helping drive fund-raising initiatives for the Trust nearly 160 years later. “When I started, everyone was


working in competition with each other, wards, departments etc, not necessarily on purpose. They just really personally cared about their own areas and patients. It took a long time to build trust, there were a lot of urban myths. “Today, you walk into the wards


of the Children's Hospital and I can confidently say that every child will be touched by the charity in some


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