Purple was the colour as charities were launched at Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals.

Volunteers donned purple tops and handed out purple balloons and cupcakes in the glass corridor at Chase Farm hospital, on The Ridgeway, Enfield.

The charities have been set up by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which took over the hospitals last year.

Chris Burghes, chief executive of the Royal Free charity, told the Enfield Independent that the popularity of the hospital in the borough could make the charity a success.

He said: “The Royal Free charity has been a great success, raising £15million last year and we hope that our two charities can get to that level in the future.

“People in Enfield have a great connection with this hospital, we have seen in the past demonstrations and massive support for the hospital, which hopefully means that people will donate for the hospital.”

The charities are hoping to raise money in order to improve the quality of people’s experience at a hospital and hopes to install free Wi-Fi and give elderly patients slippers.

Mr Burghes also praised the 40 volunteers at Chase Farm hospital and hopes more volunteers can be acquired through the charity.

A new massage unit is also set to be installed at Chase Farm for people going through chemotherapy.

Keith Hunt, who has been running the massage therapy at Royal Free for more than 20 years, hopes the new unit will help people in Enfield.

He said: “I often say it is a treat and not a treatment to have a massage and the amount of people going through therapy for cancer who have benefited from this has been tremendous.”

Mr Hunt is hoping that they can provide a daily service at the hospital eventually if the charity can raise enough money but will begin with weekly sessions for patients.

Alison Kira, charity development manager, added: “A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to prepare for the launch of the new expanded charity. Today marks the day when we can shout from the rooftops about what we do and why we are here.

“For example, we now provide free massage therapy to patients being treated for cancer and we plan to roll this service out to other patients."