Staff from the children’s hospital were invited to pitch their ideas for funding to staff and trustees from Rockinghorse.
Here at Rockinghorse we regularly look for projects, equipment and services to fund which will help make the lives of sick children and young people happier and more comfortable. This could be big pieces of expensive medical equipment like ventilators, or smaller things like books and toys to help the time in hospital pass more quickly.
Whilst the larger items are important, often items for less than £5,000 can have an equally big impact. Which is why we put the call out to staff across the Alex and Trevor Mann Baby Unit (TMBU) to find out what equipment under £5,000 would make their lives, and those of their patients, better.
Once we had received the application forms, we arranged a meeting at the hospital where the applicants could come and pitch their ideas to a panel of staff and Trustees.
The session took place earlier this week and it was a great way to really understand how the support that your donations provide can make such a difference.
All together we were presented with 16 different requests which included, amongst others, wall mounted breast pumps for the TMBU, re-furbishing rooms within the hospital for teenage patients, asthma monitoring equipment and sensory toys for children spending a long time in hospital.
Sarah Phillips, Projects and Operations Manager at Rockinghorse, said: “It was wonderful to meet and speak directly to the staff at the hospital to find out how these projects will help make the treatment they provide easier and less painful.
“Whilst we can read the forms they have submitted, being able to see how passionate they are about their work and how much they want to make children’s experiences of being in hospital as good as possible is truly inspirational.”
The meeting was also a good opportunity to learn about some of the ways that children and young people are supported through their treatment with non-medical support.
One of the projects that was presented was for some new wall mounted toys and decorative vinyls in the high dependency unit of the Alex. The panel found out that being able to distract a child during examination or treatment can really help the medical staff examine them and find out exactly what’s wrong, with as little distress to the patient as possible.
Another project aims to support young cancer patients and their siblings by providing some cuddly teddy bears that help them understand their treatment.
At first glance Medibears look and feel exactly like normal teddy bears. But look closer and you’ll see that they can be adapted to reflect the treatment that their owner is having, from PEG tubes to IV lines.
This means patients can have a furry friend to go through the experience with them or to re-assure their siblings and help them understand what treatment their brother or sister is having. And even better, these teddies can be personalised with a range of different outfits and are given to the children to keep.
After a long day the staff and Trustees were overwhelmed with the amazing work being done every day at the hospital. Sarah said: “We are all so proud to be a part of this great hospital and to work for an organisation that raises money for such important things. Now all we need to do is get back to work raising the funds to pay for these projects!”
The team are now working on the best ways to fund these projects so keep an eye out on our website to find out more about them in the coming months. And to find out about some of the other projects we have funded, click here.