This National Burns Awareness Day (Wednesday 14 October), former professional footballer, Joleon Lescott, is throwing his support behind the launch of Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s new £1.5m Burns Centre Appeal, with an incredible £11,500 donation to the centre which looked after him as a child.
Treating approximately 850 patients every year, Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s Burns Centre is one of only five paediatric burns centres in the country caring for some of the severest burns patients from across the UK and beyond. However, it hasn’t been updated since it was first opened in 2007, meaning it’s in urgent need of transformation.
The charity’s new £1.5m appeal will modernise and reconfigure the Centre’s 20-year-old inpatient and outpatient areas, creating a new and improved healing environment which helps aid recovery.
Ex-England defender Joleon Lescott, who was treated by the Burns Centre after a road traffic accident as a child, presented the charity with the £11,500 donation, after winning a celebrity Pro Am Padel Tournament which took place at the end of 2025.
This founding donation, together with the backing of the charity’s network of philanthropic Changemakers, who pledged a further £750,000, was the catalyst to inspire the appeal. With £761,500 committed, the charity is now calling on the public to help it raise the remaining £738,500.
Joleon said: “I spent about four months in Birmingham Children’s Hospital as a child and it’ll always be a place that’s close to my heart. I’m delighted the winnings from the padel tournament have kick started such an incredible transformation of the Burns Centre, an area of the hospital I’ll always have a strong connection to.”
On presenting the cheque, Joleon met with staff and current patient Elizabeth Soffe, 12, who visits regularly for treatment.
Elizabeth has been under the care of the hospital since she was just six months old, after her cot caught fire when an air conditioning unit malfunctioned in her family home in Qatar. She received full thickness burns to 60 per cent of her body and had to be flown by air ambulance to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for lifesaving treatment.
Elizabeth survived, but has since received over 100 operations and procedures, including reconstruction of her face, arms and hands, skin grafts, releases of skin grafts and laser treatment. She has regular physiotherapy and occupational therapy to treat her scars and ensure her range of movement is maintained as she continues to grow.
Talking about the Burns Centre and the new appeal, Elizabeth said: “The hospital has been a huge part of my life since I was a baby. For kids like me, who come here a lot, it needs to be somewhere they want to be, if they need to be here. It’s important it looks nice and friendly. It needs to be a place they feel happy, so I think it’s great the hospital is making these changes.
“For anyone thinking of giving money to the Burns Centre Appeal, I’d say go for it. You’ll be helping a lot of children.”
Plans for the £1.5m transformation include the creation of a new high-dependency bed to care for the ward’s most critical patients, the revamp of two private rooms for patients most at risk of infection, as well as the creation of a dedicated laser treatment room – a treatment increasingly used for burns and scars. Finally, the ward’s existing playroom will be updated, zoning it into areas for different ages, for therapy and space for families.
The Centre’s outpatient area – where patients with minor injuries or who have been discharged are treated – will also be improved, creating a new, welcoming and child-friendly reception area to ease patient and family anxiety ahead of appointments.
Matt Boazman, Chief Executive of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our world-renowned Burns Centre cares for children and young people with some of the most complex and challenging burns from across the UK and often becomes a second home for families needing ongoing care and treatment.
“We know that by creating a healing environment we will be helping to improve the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing for all of the children and young people we care for, creating a space which fully supports them in their recovery.”
Mark Brider, CEO of Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “This is a powerful appeal and we know the public will get behind us. We’re so thrilled to have a head start on our fundraising thanks to Joleon and our philanthropic network of Changemakers. I would urge people to donate so we can support our patients on their healing journey.”
For further information about the Burns Centre Appeal or to donate, visit bch.org.uk/burns-centre-appeal.