There is something about charitable commitment. And this was one of those occasions.
Why would anyone want to stand on London Marylebone’s station concourse for three days in early March in the freezing cold from 6.30am?
The answer is to promote Scannappeal and raise awareness of what we do and the enablement we achieve together with the Buckinghamshire NHS Healthcare Trust.
Our massive thanks go to Chiltern Railways staff for their great support as we targeted 100’s of commuters each day who travelled from their homes in Buckinghamshire into London Marylebone.
With leaflets in hand, banners unfurled and a table full of promotional material, we met each train arrival with passion and commitment – ready to greet with a good morning or good afternoon, explain what we do, answer the sensible and obscure, and to take any donations.
There is however a strange culture to the commuter that did make our engagement harder – namely the ear pod, iPhone, and coffee – never try to interrupt those three or combination of them! No-one wants to stop if the ears, eyes, and lips are busy….
So, what happened whilst on the platform:
- Over 350 leaflets handed out.
- Multiple conversations with commuters who stopped and openly talked about their health challenges, particularly around living with cancer and cardiology.
- Many commuters recognising our name, but those north of High Wycombe were less aware – clearly an opportunity for Scannappeal.
- £100’s of donations received.
- Sharing 2 hours with a wonderful gentleman diagnosed with mental health issues (suicidal thoughts). It was privilege to share together in conversation about sport, life, business, and other topics.
Those conversations have re-energised our collective focus on Appeals like Mobile Breast Screening for South Bucks and the William Baxter Memorial Fund, which will be so important for tens of thousands of local people across the years to come.
Many of the commuters (or their families and friends) who walked past the Scannappeal location will be in need of Buckinghamshire NHS Trust healthcare services in the future. But they may never know the impact Scannappeal has on that care.
Our work behind the scenes continues to support the quality of healthcare through provision of state-of-the-art medical equipment.