The Faculty of Nursing Midwifery and Palliative Care is extremely grateful to the Worshipful Company of Barbers for their generous support which will have a major impact on the education we offer student midwives.
Professor Mary Malone, Vice Dean (Education)
04 August 2026
The Worshipful Company of Barbers donations create simulated birthing room
King’s College London is delighted to announce that The Worshipful Company of Barbers have made an incredibly generous donation of £80,000 to support the refurbishment of the Midwifery Simulation Suite.
The Simulated and Accelerated Learning (SaIL) Centre currently supports 5,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students to become highly skilled medical professionals. With 25 mock-up clinical ward beds, it is one of the largest clinical facilities of its kind in the UK. Medicine and nursing students benefit from a bespoke mock-up A&E ward, children's ward, and home environment.
Whilst existing facilities also support the training of the next generation of midwives, this gift from The Worshipful Company of Barbers will allow us to redesign a purpose-built room for our midwifery students complete with high-fidelity simulation tools and brand-new equipment.
Numair Shahpur, Head of Simulation Operations, says, “We are incredibly grateful to The Worshipful Company of Barbers for this generous donation, which comes at a time when demand for simulation-based learning at the SaIL Centre is at an all-time high.
This funding will enable us to transform an existing teaching classroom into a dedicated simulated birthing room, creating a learning environment that did not previously exist within the centre. This new simulated birthing room will provide a realistic and immersive learning experience, enabling students to develop their clinical, communication and decision-making skills in a safe and controlled environment.
This space not only strengthens our current provision but also helps future-proof the programme by providing a flexible environment that can evolve alongside advances in maternity care. It further enhances the SaIL Centre’s capacity to support the educational requirement of King’s Health Faculties while creating new opportunities for widening participation and community engagement activities that inspire future generations to consider midwifery as a rewarding and impactful profession.
We are proud to partner with The Worshipful Company of Barbers on a project that will have a lasting impact on our students, the future maternity workforce, and the women, babies and families they will go on to support.”
It is a pleasure to co-fund such an important initiative, which will help support the education and training of staff involved in maternity care. King's is a world leader in obstetric care, and a simulation centre will extend the depth and reach of its programme. Our funding builds on the long-standing relationship that The Barbers' Company has with King's Healthcare.
Dr Antony Michalski, Master Barber
The Worshipful Company of Barbers are also long-term supporters of King's Extended Medical Degree Programme (EMDP), the UK's flagship model for widening access to medical education.
If you are interested in supporting King's work, please contact giving@kcl.ac.uk to find out more.
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Head of Simulation Operations