We have agreed to fund another five projects which aim to support children in hospital, in the local community and at home.
Throughout the last year we have worked incredibly hard to be able to continue to fund vital equipment and services to support children despite the challenges we have faced. And whilst this hasn’t been easy, we are proud that we are still able to offer this kind of support to those that need it most.
This February we have given the green light to fund a range of projects, all of which will help a range of children manage their health and wellbeing.
You will have already read about the Extratime clubs in Brighton and Hove who will benefit greatly from funding for two iPads which will help improve their communication between staff and parents. But here are a few more things we have recently agreed to fundraise for:
Feeding therapy
We are funding a range of equipment to provide positive eating and drinking experiences for children staying at The Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital and for those with outpatient appointments. The equipment will help children with swallowing difficulties, those who need to develop their feeding skills and those who are weaning off feeding tubes.
Sensory equipment
We are also funding some sensory equipment for the Special Care Baby Unit at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath. This will help stimulate babies who are getting towards the end of their hospital stay, helping them to develop their visual and motor skills which will aid their overall development.
A familiar voice
One of the things that children can miss during a hospital stay is the sound of their parents’ voice. Often, it’s not possible for a parent or carer to be at the hospital with their child all day every day but as it has been proven that hearing familiar voices is important to infant brain development, we are funding some great equipment that can help this.
Tonieboxes are audiobook players that also allows up to 90 minutes of recorded speech or singing so that a parent’s voice can be played back at any time to help soothe the young patients staying at The Alex.
To find out more about these projects and more, take a look at our ‘Currently Funding’ page here.
