Lewis Hamilton & Abbey put hospital in pole position

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton did a few laps of the world-class children’s hospital today to celebrate the launch of the Abbey and Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity of the Year partnership. Hamilton met patients on oncology wards, sharing stories from the 2007 racing season, and taking a ride with the children in McLaren toy cars.

Abbey announced today Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity as their first ever charity of the year for 2008. Over the next year, 16,000 Abbey staff in 714 branches and five head office sites across the UK will be raising money through a variety of fundraising activities including supporting a major charity fundraising appeal next year through the sale of pin badges. Money raised will help fund research into the causes of childhood cancer, the biggest disease affecting children today.

Lewis Hamilton said, “Abbey and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity have forged a strong relationship which I am really pleased to be supporting – I’m looking forward to helping them raise much needed funds. Being able to meet some of the children who are being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital is a very special experience. It is a privilege to be able to bring a small piece of the F1™ excitement into the wards, to see the smiles it generates and to have fun with the kids and their families.”

Lewis Hamilton’s visit builds on the relationship forged between Formula OneTM, sponsors Abbey and Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2007. Previous activities have included the F1TM Party in July and the 2007 Formula One™ Santander British Grand Prix. Every child invited was given exclusive access to team garages, meet and greet sessions with F1TM drivers and open access to the team paddock area at Silverstone. Abbey generously contributed over £100,000 towards the events which raised money for the Hospital’s new Heart and Lung Centre.

António Horta-Osório, Chief Executive of Abbey says, “We have enjoyed a great sense of teamwork this year working with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes as part of our sponsorship activity. After seeing first hand the tremendous work the hospital does we were inspired to create our first Charity of the Year partnership to extend our involvement across the whole of Abbey. We hope that, together with our employees and customers, we will be able to raise over £250,000 and make a real difference to the lives of children affected by cancer.”

Charles Denton, Executive Director of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity says, “We are very excited about our partnership with Abbey and its staff – every penny raised will make a huge difference to the children and their families. Every year we need to raise £50 million to allow Great Ormond Street Hospital to remain at the forefront of child healthcare. Without it we would not be able to offer the same specialist treatments and services and to have the buildings and paediatric equipment that we need.”