Crosshouse Children's Fund has hit a £100,000 milestone – despite Covid restrictions halting fundraising efforts.
The charitable fund was launched in May 2019 with the goal to raise money for the children’s wards, maternity and neonatal units at Kilmarnock's Crosshouse Hospital.
Funds raised go towards providing enhanced equipment, support services and resources to alleviate the worries of a hospital visit for families cared for across NHS Ayrshire & Arran.
The money has also supported specialist cots for the Ayrshire Maternity Unit and a brand new sensory garden at Ayrshire Central Hospital.
Emergency care packages for families and frontline staff in the hospital during the pandemic, bereavement support for families and technology to accommodate virtual visits for children in the paediatric wards have also been funded.
Out in the community, funding has also been granted to enhance patient experiences for speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and health visiting teams.
Professor Hazel Borland, executive nurse director at NHS Ayrshire & Arran, said: “Providing high-quality health and care services is central to the work that we do.
“Despite the many challenges facing the NHS, we are continuously striving to improve and transform our services to ensure that children in hospital receive the best possible care.
“Crosshouse Children’s Fund has played an important part in helping us achieve this over these past two years by helping to equip our teams with resources and funding to make hospital experiences less worrying for children and their families.
“We look forward to continuing our work with Crosshouse Children’s Fund across our sites, and would like to thank all of the generous fundraisers who have supported the fund so far.”
William McGowan, head of partnerships and events with Crosshouse Children’s Fund said: “We are incredibly grateful to the individuals, schools and businesses across Ayrshire and Arran for their tremendous fundraising efforts – particularly during the pandemic.
“It has been so humbling to see the lengths that people have gone to in lockdown to fundraise – the creativity and determination has been nothing short of inspiring.
“It is wonderful to see the positive impact that Crosshouse Children’s Fund’s enhancement projects, equipment and resources are having in hospital and community settings around Ayrshire, and this is all thanks to our committed donors and fundraisers – their generosity is what makes all of this possible.
“As restrictions begin to ease, we feel hopeful for the year ahead and are planning for future events and fundraising campaigns.
“There are so many opportunities for us to make hospital experiences even better for children and their families, so we hope that we can count on the continued support of people from across Ayrshire through 2021 and beyond.”
To show your support for Crosshouse Children’s Fund, call (01292) 435197 or visit www.CrosshouseChildrensFund.org
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