Two new Trustees join The Children’s Hospital Charity!

The Children’s Hospital Charity are delighted to announce the appointment of two new Trustees to support the fundraising effort for Sheffield Children’s.

The Charity welcomes Mark Rooker, Commercial and Campus Development Manager for Sheffield Hallam University and Rachel White, HR Director at Henry Boot PLC to our team of Trustees.

Trustees help oversee the Charity’s long-term strategy, as well as contributing to, and supporting the management of the Charity, ensuring it delivers significant income for Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in order to improve children and young people’s lives.

Mark Rooker has worked in various commercial, consultancy, sales and marketing roles throughout his career for a number of charities and world-leading organisations.

For the last 10 years, he has been working as the Commercial and Campus Development Manager for Sheffield Hallam University, where his role involves integrating Sheffield Hallam and its students with the wider city region.

Mark’s involvement with The Children’s Hospital Charity began in 2003, when he supported a fundraising campaign through his employer. In 2012, he became an ambassador for the Charity and in 2019, he was elected as a Public Governor at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

Mark explained: “I have always had a huge passion for Sheffield Children’s Hospital, it’s played a huge part of my life, the life of my friends and more recently, helped my children. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to get to know The Children’s Hospital Charity and gain an insight into how important the Charity is in facilitating the hospital’s development.

“In my role as an ambassador, I’ve supported a huge variety of fundraising events, I’ve cheered on our amazing runners, spoken to school groups about the hospital and introduced the work of the Charity to a variety of business leaders. It’s something I’ve loved.

“Becoming a Trustee allows me to put that passion and knowledge to good use, as well as use my experience to help deliver the Charity’s ambitious plans for the future. I’m incredibly proud to have this new role and I’m excited to work closely with such a dedicated team. I can’t wait to give something back.”

Rachel White joined Henry Boot PLC in 2001 as a Graduate Trainee. She then undertook various external qualifications, before working her way up to the role of Group HR Manager in 2010, becoming Head of HR in 2015 and HR Director in 2022.

Rachel has also been directly involved in supporting The Children’s Hospital Charity through her employer, where she has worked on the Charity Committee.

She explains: “I have been incredibly proud of the impact our people have been able to make with both their fundraising and the provision of time and expertise. Whilst I have not needed to use the services of Sheffield Children’s Hospital myself, I recognise what an asset it is for our city and the wider region.

“I’m excited to be part of the growth and development of The Children’s Hospital Charity and for how this will directly impact the services the hospital can offer.”

The two new Trustees join The Children’s Hospital Charity at an exciting time, with fundraising ongoing to build a new Helipad on the roof of the Emergency Department.

Paul Firth, Chairman of The Children’s Hospital Charity, expressed his delight at the new appointments: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Rachel and Mark to our team of Trustees at The Children’s Hospital Charity.

“We undertook a rigorous external recruitment process after reviewing the makeup of the Board of Trustees. We identified areas where we felt we needed to strengthen our specialist experience, and we’re thrilled that these appointments will help do exactly that, for the benefit of the Charity, and in turn, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust too.”

To find out more about The Children’s Hospital Charity, please click here.