Introducing:  Sammy Lambert – Business Development, Charity & Volunteer Manager
Company name: Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity (HHCC)
Company website: www.hhcc.co.uk
Social Media: @harrogatehospitalcharity

This week we caught up with Sammy Lambert, one of the Managers at Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity who provide support for all the staff and patients at Harrogate Hospital.

We chatted to Sammy to find out more about what the team do and why they have commissioned a ‘Focus on the Good’ book to commemorate special moments and memories from the last 12 months…

When was the company founded and how has it grown?

Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity (HHCC) was originally founded in 1995. In 2012, the Charity underwent a transformation with new branding and identity and more recently in 2019, the Charity moved under my leadership.

Since that time, the HHCC Team have worked tirelessly to raise the awareness of HHCC across the large geographical footprint that we serve in Harrogate and the immediate locality, but also across the rest of North Yorkshire, Leeds, County Durham, Darlington, Gateshead, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees and Sunderland. 

Why do you stand out from your competition?

HHCC benefits members of the community which HDFT provide services to. This can be as a member of staff, a patient, service user, visitor or family member. We strive to make life changing differences and add that little bit of extra sparkle to help improve treatment and facilities for all departments and services at HDFT. 

How has Covid affected your business and how did you cope?

Covid-19 has drastically impacted the NHS and caused numerous challenges.To be able to continue with delivering our routine and emergency services, but also care for the patients affected with the virus.

As a local NHS Charity, HHCC along with our local communities across HDFTs footprint have supported our colleagues, patients and their families to make life changing differences through this time.The compassion and care that the Charity Team have seen members of the community wanting to support their local NHS in these extreme and unprecedented times, has been phenomenal.

The Team have received donations in both physical and monetary form to enable us to continue to make the life changing differences in supporting the daily working routine of our workforce and for those patients and service users accessing our services.  

Who would you most like to have a drink with and why?

I would love to have a drink with my God-father who was killed in the line of duty when I was 11. He never knew the impact he had on me and I never got to say thank you. I have spent longer in life without him than with him but I hope his legacy and leadership lives on in me.

What advice would you give the next generation starting their careers?

Whatever career path you choose be curious, always be inquisitive, ask questions of your colleagues, managers and leaders.  Utilise your peers and colleagues for their own expertise to grow and develop in your chosen career.  Strive to be a better leader tomorrow than you are today.  Remember there is no ‘I’ in Team.

Why do you like doing business in Yorkshire?

Yorkshire is such a diverse place to work.  We have many towns across the county, but also pockets of extreme remoteness and our offer is the same for every member of the population providing a consistent, high quality and safe service.

How can people get involved with your ‘Focus on the Good’ Book?

HHCC have specially commissioned a book called ‘Focus on the Good’ and anyone is welcome to contribute; staff, volunteers, patients, service users, families and members of the community.

HHCC would love to receive your experiences of the last year; what have you missed? What were your biggest challenges?  What have you appreciated the most about this time?  Have you or a loved one experienced Covid-19?  How did your community pull together?  What do you remember about the doorstep claps?

The Covid-19 pandemic thoughts, experiences, anecdotes and photos of local people from the past year are wanted for our new ‘Focus on the Good’ book being created to raise much-needed funds for HHCC.

If you would like to contribute please download a Focus on the Good template from our website https://hhcc.co.uk/events/focus-on-the-good-book/.  Alternatively you can submit your contribution by contacting the team by email hdft.hhcc@nhs.net  or call 01423 557408.

Name your favourite local business and explain what makes them special.

There are too many to mention, but our team is fuelled by and love a certain local Tea Company!

Would you like to feature your business in the Your Harrogate Business Focus? Email Claire Strachan (claire@clairestrachan.co.uk) for your chance to get involved.

Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here.