Publish date: 21 October 2022
Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity (MCH Charity) is delighted to announce the launch of a new fundraising appeal specifically for the benefit of Victoria Infirmary, Northwich (VIN). Money raised through the appeal will help to improve children’s experiences when attending VIN for medical care through a state of the art children’s waiting area.
The appeal will fund the creation of a separate, safe, child friendly waiting room within the main waiting area at VIN. It will also fund a high-tech interactive floor projector, and sensory play wall fixed activity units, to help distract and entertain children who might otherwise find being in a hospital environment challenging.
It is hoped that by providing a calming environment the space will help to relax children of all ages, so that their experience is the best that it can be. The dedicated space will also help relieve the stress and worry parents and carers can experience when bringing their child to hospital.
The charity has set a challenging target of £100,000 to fund the creation of this space, and to potentially help other departments across VIN to improve patient care and experience.
This new appeal follows a successful campaign during 2021, that funded a more child friendly waiting environment within the new paediatric unit of the Emergency Care Department at Leighton Hospital, Crewe.
Ceri Donovan, Paediatric Advanced Clinical Practitioner at Leighton Hospital, said: “The interactive floor projectors that were funded by the charity play a huge part in helping us to calm and distract children who attend the unit.
Ceri added: I remember we had a little girl in who was very distressed, and we were finding it difficult to calm her. I took her to the projector and within seconds her attention was on it, and she almost immediately calmed down, it was amazing to see.”
Karen Bowman, General Manager at VIN, said: “We are delighted to be working with MCH Charity to launch this appeal which will support improvements to the facilities we have at VIN, and enable us to create a safe and welcoming environment for our paediatric patients.”
Emma Robertson, MCH Charity Manager, said: “The kit we were able to provide at Leighton has made such a big difference to the experience children have when attending hospital, so we already know how important this appeal is going to be for families in Northwich and the surrounding areas.
Emma added: We are a small but very enthusiastic team who are so excited about the prospect of working with local people, groups, and businesses to raise these funds, we would love to hear from you if you can help!”
The announcement of the appeal comes just weeks after Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust announced that £14.1 million has been allocated to build a Cheshire Elective Hub at VIN. The proposed development will feature a range of state-of-the-art clinical areas to support patient care, including two theatres, recovery area and consulting rooms.
If you would like to find out more about the appeal or would like to donate to or fundraise for it please get in touch with MCH Charity via email charity@mcht.nhs.uk or visit their appeal webpage https://mchcharity.org/appeals/vin-appeal/
