“Sheffield businessman Dave Allen's donation of £1.3m for hospital robot is worthy of further acclaim”

This letter written to the Star was sent in by Cyril Olsen, Busk Meadow, Sheffield, S5
Sheffield businessman and chairman of The A&S Leisure Group, Dave Allen (far left) made the £1.3 million personal donation to buy Sheffield Teaching Hospitals a state of the art Surgical Robot which is installed at Sheffield Royal Hallamshire Hospital

 Copyright Paul David Drabble
20th March 2019
 www.pauldaviddrabble.co.ukSheffield businessman and chairman of The A&S Leisure Group, Dave Allen (far left) made the £1.3 million personal donation to buy Sheffield Teaching Hospitals a state of the art Surgical Robot which is installed at Sheffield Royal Hallamshire Hospital

 Copyright Paul David Drabble
20th March 2019
 www.pauldaviddrabble.co.uk
Sheffield businessman and chairman of The A&S Leisure Group, Dave Allen (far left) made the £1.3 million personal donation to buy Sheffield Teaching Hospitals a state of the art Surgical Robot which is installed at Sheffield Royal Hallamshire Hospital Copyright Paul David Drabble 20th March 2019 www.pauldaviddrabble.co.uk

A friend, who like myself is a supporter of greyhound racing at the Owlerton Stadium, recently asked if I had heard about Dave Allen’s record donation of £1.3 million to the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Charity, to purchase a state of the art Surgical Robot which is now installed at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital.

As an avid reader of The Star’s I had to confess that I had not read about it.

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This prompted me to contact “Mr Google” where I found a full on-line account of his kind act on your website.

It was reported that Mr Allen said he bought the robot after hearing about the positive impact it would have on people’s lives and, (very modestly), that he was caught “on a good day” after selling one of his businesses.

Patients with prostate, kidney and bladder cancer will benefit from the robot which allows major surgery to be carried out using a smaller incision, allowing patients to recover more quickly and return home earlier.

Kirsten Major, chief executive of the NHS Foundation Trust has called their biggest donation ever received “a gift of life” and everyone is very grateful to him for his generosity.

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Much local press coverage has been given to the meritorious efforts of another cancer-related charity benefactor, John Burkhill, the “Man with the pram” and very rightly so.

While John has largely prevailed upon members of the public for donations towards his MacMillan ongoing £1 million target, Dave Allen has funded this £1.3 million robot from his own pocket.

I suggest that many people in a similar financial position to him would refrain from doing so.

Surely this unassuming generous financial contribution is worthy of further acclaim within the wider Sheffield community?

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