Lift off at Sheffield Children’s Hospital 🚁

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

We hope you all had a great weekend. Around 30 intrepid Tribune members certainly did on our mushroom foraging trip to Ecclesall Woods. The foragers found lots of mushrooms including wood blewits, giant funnels, and sulphur tufts that glow in a UV light…

Today’s briefing reports on the incredible result of a fundraising campaign by the Children’s Hospital Charity. A new £6 million helipad will transform the way that seriously ill patients are transported to the hospital, giving them more privacy and dignity, and also improving their chances of survival. That’s our big story today.

As well as that we have worrying news about yet another death in the city centre, and a 28-bedroom ex-monastery for sale in High Bradfield.

Catch up

For our weekend read, Victoria dug into a London tech start up that offered to help people set up their own co-ops. It hasn’t worked out that way. “Classic tech bros thinking that all the world’s problems can be solved by yet another app”, one reader commented. You can read the piece here.

Last week we sent out two great newsletters to our 2,340 paying members. In the first Daniel Timms looked into Sheffield City Council’s precarious financial situation and asked: is it just a matter of time before the authority declares bankruptcy? And in the second, Dan spoke to tech entrepreneurs about the Sheffield Innovation Spine, an ambitious plan to transform the city into a high-tech hotspot. An extract from that first piece is below.

Whisper the words “Section 114” in the darkened bedroom of any council chief executive and they’re likely to jolt awake in a cold sweat. These notices are to local councils what a declaration of bankruptcy is to you or I… The language used — “temporarily avoid” — seems to suggest it is only a matter of time before the inevitable happens, and such a notice is published here in Sheffield. How worried should we be?

Editor’s note: Trawling through council finances isn’t the most fun way to spend two days, and at several points I was tempted to give up. But I knew we needed to get to the bottom of just how serious the situation was. 

If we didn’t have paying members, we would need to turn stories around as soon as possible to get more clicks. There’s no way we could have devoted that much time — we would probably have reprinted the council press release instead (which made things look much rosier). If you think Sheffield needs journalists who can put the time in, then join today.

Find a family friendly community at Waverley 🏡

From today’s sponsor: Sky-House is rethinking new build living, putting community at the heart. Their new neighbourhood in Waverley includes mature street trees, green spaces and open walkways to stroll and get to know neighbours. With the Waverley primary academy rated “Good” by Ofsted, it’s the perfect place to raise a family. 

The first new neighbours are moving in over the festive period, and phase one of the development has almost sold out. If you want to know more, visit the website to book a visit, or pop along for the open weekend on the 7th-8th December.

The big picture: ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…’ 🎄

Thanks to Sheffield photographer Chris O’Grady for letting us use this brilliant photo of the first weekend of the Sheffield Christmas Markets. “It’s amazing to see the Sheffield Christmas Markets so busy,” wrote Chris on Instagram. “The ambience is great and it’s lovely to see the city go above and beyond with the lighting and vendors.” The markets will be open until Christmas Eve.

The big story: Lift off at Sheffield Children’s Hospital 🚁

Top line: Sheffield Children’s Hospital has a helipad! The high-tech new feature cost a cool £6 million and is the product of over five years of fundraising by the Children’s Hospital Charity. The helipad will transform how seriously ill patients are treated at the hospital.

A big improvement: Up until now, patients transported to Sheffield Children’s Hospital via air ambulance have had to land over the road in Weston Park. However, the park is only usable in daylight hours, which restricts its use during winter months and means it cannot be used during public events (around 30 days a year).

• On the occasions when the park can be used, it needs to be completely cleared of people before the helicopter lands. Then, patients have to be wheeled across the busy A57 road on a stretcher, waiting for the green man at the pelican crossing.
• Now, thanks to the new helipad, they will be delivered straight to the hospital roof before being transported via a lift straight to the wards or, if need be, direct to surgery. As well as providing more privacy and dignity, it will also improve their chances of survival.

High-spec kit: To build a helipad on the roof of a hospital isn’t without difficulties. Two storeys had to be added to the building to give the ‘copters enough clearance. Then, to avoid the prospect of a catastrophic fire, the whole helipad has the ability to fold in on itself, stopping any fire from spreading to the building below. The helipad will also regularly be sprayed with long-lasting de-icer (the same kind that they use at airports), so that ice and snow do not disrupt the continued use of the facility during periods of inclement weather.

Building a better future: The Children’s Hospital Charity is Sheffield Children’s Hospital’s dedicated fundraising arm. They raise around £3 million a year to fund new facilities and equipment.

• The helipad has been built thanks to the charity’s Building a Better Future fundraising campaign. Begun in 2018, the campaign aimed to raise more than £14 million in five years for the helipad, a new emergency department, a new cancer and leukaemia ward.
• The NHS will provide new facilities and equipment, but the charity fundraising means that the hospital can give patients access to the best facilities in the world, including state of the art diagnostic equipment and a bright and welcoming child-friendly environment.

A golden legacy: The opening of the helipad comes as the hospital celebrates its 148th birthday. Set up in 1876 as a children’s infirmary on Brook Hill, the hospital moved to its current location in the 1890s, the iconic Edwardian building being built in 1903. An A+E department was added in the 1970s and an outpatients department on Clarkson Street opened in 2018, again partly funded by the Children’s Hospital Charity. 

Along with Alder Hey in Liverpool and Great Ormond Street in London, Sheffield Children’s Hospital is one of only three dedicated children’s trusts in the UK. As a result, the trust can devote its entire focus to paediatrics, meaning that they have some of the best children's doctors and facilities in the world. 

Our take: Sometimes we don’t realise how lucky we are to have a dedicated hospital trust which focuses entirely on paediatrics. Sheffield Children’s Hospital really is one of the jewels in the city’s crown. I personally remember reporting on the start of the Building a Better Future campaign in 2018 when I was working at The Star. At the time £14 million seems like a long way off. But, thanks to the hard work of the charity and the generosity of Sheffielders, the young patients who use the hospital will have the very best that money can buy.

To find out how you can support the Children’s Hospitals Charity, visit www.tchc.org.uk.

The weekly Whitworth ✏️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on Sheffield Council’s financial woes.

This week’s weather ❄️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say it will be a cold and wintry week with an early risk of settling snow before largely dry, cold and sunny conditions dominate. Regular frost and ice.

Monday 🌤🌨 Early frost and daytime sunshine. Brisk ESE winds later on with a risk of significant overnight snowfall. Highs of 4°C.

Tuesday ❄🌤 Early snow clears to an icy but often sunny day with a bitter windchill from the north and a hard frost overnight. Highs of 2°C.

Wednesday ❄🌤 Another very cold but largely fine day with sunny spells, Raw northwesterly winds and very cold overnight with frost. Highs of 2°C.

Thursday ❄⛅ Greater risk of snow flurries from the west-northwest. Dry and bright in between with bitter winds and frosts. Highs of 3°C.

Friday ❄🌤 Largely fine and sunny, though cloud may increase from the west later. Still cold with a hard frost early and late. Highs of 4°C.

Outlook: A deep area of low pressure could bring a spell of strong winds and a snow-to-rain event for the region during the weekend. One to watch.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

Our media picks 🔗

Police confirm body of woman found in Sheffield city centre 🚨A woman’s body has been found in Sheffield city centre. The woman was found at around 4.30pm on Saturday on High Street near McDonald’s, but South Yorkshire Police said the death was not thought to be suspicious. Four people have now been found dead in the city centre in just the last five months. We are interested in doing a story on this worrying trend. If you know anything email editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk.

The Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Leadmill, Sheffield, 10th May 1984 🎷 The latest instalment of Roger Quail’s quest to document every gig he’s ever been to see him watching the avant garde jazz band the Art Ensemble of Chicago at The Leadmill. On strike from his job at the NUM and having just broken up with his fiancé, Roger finds solace in being out with friends and being “seduced then crushed by torrents of primal sound”. There is also a podcast to go with it.

“Fiery Jack” — The Spital Hill Tunnel 🚂 Tree campaigner Calvin Payne has set up his own blog looking at hidden heritage in Sheffield. Here he looks at a railway tunnel which linked two defunct stations at Wicker and Bridgehouses (where Tesco Extra is now). The tunnel was more than 300 yards long, with a stiff gradient climbing up to the Bridgehouses end, earning it the name “Fiery Jack” for the sparks which flew from the engines struggling on the uphill journey.

Home of the week 🏡

This 28-bedroom mansion in High Bradfield is the grandest home of the week we’ve ever had in The Tribune. Built in the 1800s as an industrial school, it was later gifted to the Sisters of Charity by the Duke of Norfolk before becoming a Carmelite Monastery over 100 years ago. The building undoubtedly has its charms, although with 28 bedrooms and just one bathroom, there could be some queuing to get to the loo. The entire pile is on the market for £3 million.

Tribune tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please get in touch with us by emailing editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are happy to speak to people off the record, and we guarantee we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Learn 🧠 This evening, learn about the psychology of Carl Jung with psychologist Dr Manpreet Dhuffar-Pottiwal at Sheffield Hallam University. Jungian therapy was developed on the idea that the unconscious mind is a source of wisdom and guidance that can strengthen psychological growth. Discover Jung’s radical approach to psychology and explore dreams, the Shadow, synchronicity, and his Red Book. Tickets are £16 and doors open from 7pm.

Art 🖼️ On Wednesday, join David Alston to hear about A Passion for Prints, the Graves Gallery exhibition which tells the story of a father and son from Sheffield whose passion for prints led them to develop an outstanding collection. In this the third instalment of tours about the exhibition, the focus shifts to Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and the intensely pastoral and poetic world he created in his etchings. The one-hour tour is completely free and starts at 1pm. 

Music 🪕 To the University of Sheffield’s Firth Hall on Thursday come Sheffield-based folk duo The Rheingans Sisters. After a decade releasing critically celebrated albums (BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners of Best Original Track 2016 and Best Group nominees in 2019) and touring across the UK, Europe and Australia, The Rheingans Sisters will release their much anticipated fifth studio album in autumn 2024. Tickets are priced £7.50-£16 and doors open at 7.30pm.