Landmark Donation to Transform Camden's Animal Hospital
25 October 2010
The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is pleased to announce the substantial donation of £1m from the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust towards a £1.5m refurbishment of the Beaumont Animals' Hospital which it operates in Camden, London. The Hospital will be renamed as the Beaumont Sainsbury Animals' Hospital in Jean Sainsbury's honour, as a reflection of the matched values shared by Jean and the College. The Hospital has remained open during the refurbishment, which is due to be completed in Spring 2011.
"This Landmark donation enables the College to create a 21st century veterinary primary care practice that is unrivalled in Central London," said Graham Milligan, Clinical Services Director at the Royal Veterinary College. "We are delighted to be able to celebrate Jean's life by renaming our Hospital in her honour, as she was dedicated to improving animal welfare and promoting responsible care of animals and sound primary veterinary care."
Jean Sainsbury, who died in 2007, was a frequent visitor to the hospital and provided funds to assist clients in receipt of state benefit with essential care and treatment of their pets. Jean especially valued the work of the Beaumont Animals' Hospital because it provides the highest quality first opinion services for pet owners in Camden, and that this service is based on the ethos that all treatments and procedures should be necessary and appropriate to the animal's needs.
Colin Russell MBE, Chairman of the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust said:
“The Trustees feel it is a fitting tribute to Jean Sainsbury, who was dedicated to animal welfare, to have her name added to the Beaumont Animals’ Hospital which she supported so enthusiastically during her lifetime."
For many years Jean Sainsbury was a supporter of the Royal Veterinary College and its hospital for small animals in Camden. Grants to the College helped to fund the first phase of the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals at the Hawkshead campus in Hertfordshire and grants were used at the Camden Town site to refurbish operating theatres and waiting and reception areas in the animals’ hospital. Since 1994 the Trust has subsidised veterinary costs for those on low incomes. Jean Sainsbury’s support was formally recognised in 1994 by the award of an Honorary Fellowship of the College.
The extensive £1.5 million refurbishment of the hospital includes improvements to the reception and waiting areas for clients, refitting of the five consultation rooms; major upgrades to the dispensary and treatment room, a complete refit of the radiography suite including updating to the latest digital standards, a refit of surgical facilities including the creation of a new dedicated dental suite, the expansion of ward facilities for exotics, an overhaul of the ward space for dogs including expansion of the isolation facilities (to minimise likelihood of spread of infectious diseases) as well as complete refurbishment of seminar room facilities for students, new office accommodation and major improvements to living quarters for the veterinary nursing team.
Notes to Editors
- The Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust was set up in 1981 to support smaller registered animal welfare charities with grants for the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of domestic animals and wildlife. Since its inception in 1982, the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust has donated over £5,000,000 to registered charities and currently has an annual income of approximately £400,000. Trustees include veterinary, legal and financial expertise and meet three times a year. The managing trustee and fund’s administrator handle day-to-day affairs.
www. jeansainsburyanimalwelfare.org.uk - Jean Sainsbury (nee Lytle) was born in 1926, educated at Frances Holland School and enjoyed a successful career in publishing. In 1961 Jean married Cyril (Squib) Sainsbury a banker with the Bank of England and no relation to the supermarket family of the same name. In 1981, following the death of her father, she inherited a considerable fortune the major part of which she used to support three of her particular interests in life. She made a major donation to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children’s Wishing Well Appeal, established the Jean Sainsbury Royal Opera House Fund which continues to sponsor productions at Covent Garden annually, and established the Jean Sainsbury Charitable Trust, later re-named the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust.
- The Beaumont Sainsbury Animals' Hospital (BSAH) remains on its original Camden Town site as the Royal Veterinary College's General Practice since 1932. The Hospital was completed and opened in 1933 as an undergraduate teaching hospital and remains so to this day; providing the Veterinary profession with ethical, compassionate, responsible and professional graduates. The BSAH opens every Monday to Saturday as a first opinion practice for animal owners in the immediate area of Camden Town and surrounding boroughs. The hospital employs 20 staff and carries out more that 9000 consultations and 2000 surgical procedures a year.
www.rvc.ac.uk/bsah/
Further Information
To request further information or an interview please contact:
- Hannah Murray on 01727 737997
email: hannah@communicationsmanagement.co.uk - Phil Smith on 01727 850761
email: phil@communicationsmanagement.co.uk
The Royal Veterinary College
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