Ackerman birthday gift will enhance paediatric healthcare in the Western Cape

The Children's Hospital Trust is announcing its new expansion strategy in 2011 and beyond, to fundraise for projects that will impact paediatric healthcare across the Western Cape in addition to continuing to fundraise for the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital. Raymond Ackerman, Pick n Pay founder, and former chairman, has announced his R1 million donation to the Trust in celebration of his 80th birthday.

R500 000 of the Ackerman donation will go towards the R2 million needed for the Trust's first expanded-reach fundraising project, which is to equip four METRO Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ambulances with additional specialist paediatric equipment. This will improve EMS pre-hospital and inter-hospital services rendered to Neonate and Infant patients in the Western Cape Province.

The remaining R500 000 will go towards building a consolidated Paediatric Infectious Diseases Clinic (PIDC) & Clinical Research Unit at the Hospital. The Clinic will provide highly specialised treatment for children with infectious diseases including HIV. The total cost to build this facility is approximately R31.6million. Raymond Ackerman's R500 000 donation and the New Apostolic Church's R500 000 donation brings the total raised for this project to R1 million.