Arsenal Football Club
Arsenal Football Club has chosen Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity as its Charity of the Season for 2009/10. The Club aims to raise £500,000 to help the hospital fund a new Arsenal Lung Function Unit.
Get involved with the 'Be a Gooner. Be a Giver.' campaign
We are calling all Gooners to help us make the partnership a success! Please visit www.beagoonerbeagiver.org or email us on arsenal@gosh.org for more information.
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Arsenal players announcing the charity match day grand total
Arsenal fundraising half way to target
We have now reached the half way point in our partnership with Arsenal Football Club and through their support we have now raised over half of our £500,000 target. £210,401 was raised at the partnership charity match against Chelsea on 29 November 2009. Over 200 volunteers helped us raise the money through a range of activities and promotions.
Stars unite to launch partnership
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, together with Cesc Fabregas, Manuel Almunia, Theo Walcott and legendary actress Barbara Windsor, kicked off the Club’s Charity of the Season partnership when they visited children at the hospital on Thursday 6 August 2009. Find out more on our dedicated website Be a Gooner. Be a Giver.
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Arsenal players with Arsene Wenger and hospital patients
Patients meet their heroes
Great Ormond Street Hospital patients, Elliot, Jake, Harry, Paula and Ellis were treated to a day they will never forget at Emirates Stadium in August. They walked down the famous tunnel onto the pitch, before having their photo taken with their favourite players (above).
The team and I met some of the patients from Great Ormond Street Hospital at Emirates Stadium. The strength and courage they showed despite the different illnesses and health problems they suffer from was astounding. We are looking forward to kicking off the ‘Be a Gooner. Be a Giver.’ campaign and raising as much money as possible to build a new Lung Function Unit.
Arsène Wenger, Arsenal FC Manager
The Arsenal Lung Function Unit
The current Lung Function Unit treats over 2,000 youngsters a year dealing with a multitude of conditions including cystic fibrosis, asthma and cancer and the work undertaken at Great Ormond Street Hospital is amongst the best in the world.
However, the laboratory space is far from ideal with cramped and outdated facilities.
The well planned, modern and spacious Arsenal Lung Function Unit will be located in the state-of-the-art clinical building (due to open in 2012) and has been specifically designed to cater for the needs of newborn babies right through to teenagers as well as their families.
We're thrilled that Arsenal has chosen us as their Charity of the Season. The work undertaken by the Lung Function Unit here is world class but sadly the current facilities do not match and badly need updating. The partnership with Arsenal will help us to provide much better planned and welcoming space for patients and their families and will be used by small babies right up to 19 year olds. We are so grateful to everyone at Arsenal Football Club for their support.
Dr Jane Collins, Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital
