Puttinu Cares Central London apartments

About the project

Puttinu has been taking care of children with cancer since 2002.  Before this time, anyone who needed to go away for treatment had to see to their own accommodation, a necessity that ceased to exist after the purchase of 20 apartments close to the Royal Marsden Hospital.   There are no words to describe the suffering and heart-break of the parents when they have their own son or daughter going through difficult moments of suffering.  We have experienced the great love the families show for each other and the support for their loved ones which gave us the motivation and courage to try as much as possible to alleviate a bit of their pain.   The beginning wasn’t easy for us and we took risks such as when back in 2006 we rented the first 3 bedroomed apartment because we had 3 children in our ward diagnosed with  cancer at the same time needing treatment abroad.   We didn’t even know the law in the UK and it is not ideal at all to put three families in the same apartment.  The landlord was chasing us like crazy.  But it was the beginning of our journey.   After this experience we realized that it was better to purchase property rather then to rent.  We created fundraising events to raise funds and gradually we started to acquire apartments close to the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton.  We thought that with just few apartments it would be enough to cover the children however over the years Puttinu has extended its services to cover teenagers and adults too because we didn’t have the heart to say no to any patient who asked us for help.  At the present time Puttinu owns 20 apartments and every month between 60 and 90 patients require further treatment in the UK.  Most of the patients visit hospitals in central London – Great Ormond Street Hospital, Moorefields, National Hospital are amongst the most hospitals frequented.  After an extensive search for the ideal property and a lot of challenges we have managed to acquire a building which is freehold and 10 minutes away by walk from the heart of London.  In the months to come this property will see a complete refurbishment and turned into 27 studio apartments tailor made to the needs of the patients, which will provide a holistic approach to the whole family.  This venture was not possible without the help of many kind-hearted, generous people who embraced our plea with open arms.  The aim of the apartments will as always be for patients and their families to focus on treatment and recovery while Puttinu bears some of the load of their suffering by offering comfortable accommodation for free…. A HOME AWAY FROM HOME.