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Transport company pays for childrens activity room at Leeds Hospital
Monday 19 October 2009
Young heart surgery patients at a Leeds hospital will benefit after kind hearted bosses at First, the UK’s largest bus and train company, provided money for an exciting new children’s activity room.
The Children’s Heart Surgery Fund – a Leeds General Infirmary based charity, has been awarded £4,000 by First’s Charities and Sponsorship Committee, which was set up last year to consider requests for funding and gifts from groups and organisations across the country. The committee aims to provide charitable support in line with three specific criteria – young people, health and the environment.
The money has been spent on refurbishing an outdated children’s play room on Ward 10’s Cardiac Unit, which is placed in the Hospital’s Heart Surgery (Ward 10). The new, modern children’s play area was opened by Hospital Chief Executive Maggie Boyle at a special ceremony on Friday October 9th.
Charity staff working for the Hospital’s Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) wrote to First on behalf of beneficiaries of the charity who are children aged 0-17undergoing heart surgery. CHSF funds valuable equipment/travel expenses for parents, courses for nurses and surgeons and all the resources that the NHS simply can’t supply due to lack of funding. CHSF provides a happy and relaxed atmosphere within the hospital for the children and their families.
First’s funding has been used to refurbish the children’s activity room which has cost a total of £36,000.
The remainder of the money has been raised by The Children’s Heart Surgery Fund. This includes donations from parents and staff at the Hospital.
Sharon Cheng LGI Hospital Charity Director, said: “We are extremely grateful to First for providing this substantial donation to our charity fund.
“The room needed updating, as it had not been touched for the last 13 years. The children and teenagers will benefit greatly from this room as they quite often have to be in the hospital for 4 weeks or more. The aim of the refurbishment is to encourage the teenagers to use the facilities available to them, without them thinking the area is just for the younger children.”
Dave Alexander, Managing Director for First in West and North Yorkshire, said: “First was more than happy to put its hand in its pocket to help fund a suitable activity room for these brave youngsters.
“They and their parents are an inspiration to us all and they deserve to have an area suitable for fun and games within the Hospital.”
Pictured (002) - Jonathan Stewart, Service Delivery Director for First in West Yorkshire, shows some of the new toys to patients Kate Walden-Downes (10) from Leeds and Shawna Crooks (9) from Barnsley.