Wales’ first Kidney Wellness Centre initiative is increasingly gaining momentum as a result of the significant assistance of the pharmacy community.

2017 marks a significant milestone for one of Wales’ leading health charities, Kidney Wales, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, and pharmacy, as always, has been there to lend its support.

The charity – which was established in 1967 – has supported thousands of kidney patients and their families over the last five decades, positively impacting the lives of people living with the daily rigours of kidney disease, and this has struck a chord with Raj Aggarwal OBE, the Chairman of Kidney Wales, as well as many pharmacists who have also long been involved in decades of support to their communities.

Building on the achievements of its impressive heritage, the charity is set to embark on its most ambitious project yet – the development of a ground-breaking £4 million Wellness Centre, bespoke built for kidney patients and their families.

The concept of the Wellness Centre has been conceived by the Kidney Wales Board and supporters with the aim of encouraging patients across Wales who are unable to partake in holidays, as a result of the confines of their condition and treatment, to relax in comfort with dialysis provision on-site.

To fulfil this ambitious goal, Kidney Wales have marked their 50th anniversary with a series of high profile fundraising and awareness campaigns, designed to raise vital funds for the establishment of the Wellness Centre.

In April this year, the charity’s Chief Executive, Professor Roy Thomas, along with two dedicated Kidney Wales supporters, Dr Chris Williams and Gerwyn Taylor, embarked on a 470 mile trek around Wales, walking the entirety of the country in a bid to raise £150,000 towards the creation of the centre. The campaign saw the team of core walkers visit all 16 renal units across Wales, and spending time with patients, families, and staff in order to listen to their experiences and to share the exciting news about the charity’s plans for the Wellness Centre.

Throughout the walk, the team were joined by local supporters, celebrities, patients, and charity patrons; all of whom walked a stretch of the trek to show their support for the campaign.

The call to support the walk and to raise money for this valuable cause was picked up by Community Pharmacy Wales CEO Russell Goodway, who encouraged pharmacies across Wales to become involved and to raise money for this worthwhile cause.

Community pharmacies responded in their usual enthusiastic way and general manner, as pharmacies, both large and small, rallied to the call and between them they made a significant contribution to the fundraising while showing pharmacy at its best.

Individual pharmacies are too numerous to mention, with some staff and customers from Mo Nazemi (Evans Pharmacy), Rob Davies (Davies Chemist Ltd), Shepherds Pharmacies, Rowlands Pharmacies, Nitin Sodha (Lexon group) putting on their boots and supporting the walk, and others like Boots branches in Swansea and West Wales holding a separate fundraising day.

Raj Aggarwal OBE, Chair of Kidney Wales, and himself a pharmacist, remarked how bowled over he was by the response and it made him feel proud of community pharmacists in Wales due to them being caring and giving.

The Walk Around Wales campaign was a major success, both from a fundraising and awareness raising point of view. New relationships were established with donors, local dignitaries, patients, pharmacies, and members of the general public, who were all inspired by the walkers’ achievements and the charity’s vision.

The Walk Around Wales campaign was yet another example of the determined charity tackling ambitious obstacles head-on, and succeeding. In 2015, after many years of campaigning by Kidney Wales, the charity was thrilled to witness the introduction of the presumed consent law relating to organ donation in Wales. This has already increased the number of organs available by almost 30 per cent, thus saving more lives. Pharmacists played a vital role in the success of the campaign.

Wales’ forward thinking and humanitarian stance on the issue has since inspired discussions in Westminster and Holyrood, with parties in each capital both expressing a view to adopt similar laws to Wales.

Historically after its establishment in 1967, momentous milestones for the charity have included:

• 1982: Kidney Wales officially opened the transplant unit at the Royal Cardiff Infirmary

• 1991: 60 towns across Wales came together to take part in Kidney Wales’ first Transplant Walk for Life. This event has grown to become a regular fixture in the events calendar at Kidney Wales and each year supporters organise their own Walk for Life in their local area

• 2007: Campaign for change in law on Organ Donation Deemed Consent launched

• 2010: Refurbished the Children’s Kidney Centre at University Hospital of Wales, improving dialysis services and patient care for children in Wales

• 2011: Opened the new Cardiff Transplant Unit at the University Hospital of Wales

• 2014: Kidney Wales patron, ambassador and supporter, Welsh Comedian, Max Boyce, opened the new Renal Unit in Merthyr Tydfil Hospital

• 2015: Kidney Wales launched the Can Do Project; an initiative created to support teenagers and young adults with kidney disease, to bring positivity to their lives and help them overcome the barriers which might prohibit them leading a normal life. The project aims to build confidence and give young people the tools and encouragement to face challenges. Funded by Kidney Wales, in partnership with NHS Wales, participants in the Can Do Project have the opportunity to share advice, learn new skills and mentor younger patients to pass on the Kidney Wales Can Do attitude
Now, in its 50th year, Kidney Wales is working with supporters, patients and healthcare professionals to establish a refreshed set of strategic goals and objectives as part of its ambitious five-year plan.

This includes building on the charity’s success of campaigning for organ donation law changes, securing increased philanthropic support, and developing its organisational infrastructure to best suit the needs of its renewed purpose.

At its core, all of Kidney Wales’ principal activities and objectives consist of charitable fundraising and the provision of those funds for the relief of people living in Wales who are suffering from renal disease and support for their families.

The charity plans to achieve this by ensuring the provision, maintenance and improvement of kidney dialysis units in hospitals, schools of medicine and universities. Kidney Wales will also focus on the promotion and publication of medical research into renal failure and related diseases.

However, beyond their integral work within the infrastructure of the Welsh renal network, without doubt the most significant and ambitious plan for the next five years laid out by Kidney Wales is the creation of the Wellness Centre.

The charity puts kidney patients at the centre of everything they do, listening to their needs, and actively trying to better their lives, and as a result, the concept of the Wellness Centre has been born from this noble raison d’être.

Speaking about the charity’s vision for the Wellness Centre, Professor Roy Thomas, Chief Executive of Kidney Wales, said, ‘It has become evident that there is a need for a wellness and respite centre for renal patients in Wales and for families living with this chronic condition.’

Ian Cowan, a trustee of Kidney Wales, commented, ‘Kidney Wales’ vision is to ensure patients and their families have the level of support we know they need and, importantly, deserve. We believe the Wellness Centre will be a vital element of this, enabling kidney patients and their families to enjoy a well-deserved break, without worrying about their dialysis needs.

‘We want kidney patients to feel secure in the knowledge that they can experience a trip away without the stress of worrying and booking dialysis in an unknown location and know that they’ve got the relevant health professionals nearby should they require additional support.

‘Across Wales, there are 1,400 patients on dialysis and many of these kidney patients have to spend up to six hours, three times a week on dialysis, often more, meaning that holidays can be extremely difficult, if not impossible in certain instances.’

Raj Aggarwal OBE, the Chair, added, ‘The centre will be the first not-for-profit resource centre with dialysis provision here in Wales, and one of the first in the UK. We are actively fundraising towards our goal of £4 million in order to make this dream and vision a reality. We have set the pharmacy a target of raising £50,000 and we are almost there! The world-class Wellness Centre will recognise the contribution of pharmacy.’

For 50 years, Kidney Wales has supported and changed the lives of patients and their families living with kidney disease. Without the continuous support from donors, supporters, patrons, and ambassadors, none of this would be possible.

For more information about Kidney Wales, or to donate to the creation of the Wellness Centre, visit www.kidneywales.cymru.