Christmas is a time for giving and our supporters really took that to heart with all of their kind donations to make life a little more comfortable for people in hospital over the festive period. We are so thankful for all of these donations bringing the magic of Christmas to all at Gateshead Health.
Dunelm
Children in Gateshead Health’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital got to experience the magic of Christmas, thanks to Dunelm Gateshead’s “Delivering Joy” campaign. Dunelm wanted to give something special to Gateshead families who had a sick child over Christmas, so with the help of their customers Dunelm donated 150 gifts. of toys and books for all ages of children to enjoy. Dunelm’s Delivering Joy campaign aims to provide local children and families who may be experiencing a wide range of difficulties with a small token of the festive spirit.
Asda
At a time when prices are going up, staff at ASDA Washington Home Shopping wanted to do something special for children at Christmas. Lisa Clarke and around 40 of her colleagues have been putting money away every payday since January after seeing what children were asking for on their wish trees. Lisa said, “We decided to donate to Gateshead Health’s paediatric department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as the thought of children who weren’t at home for Christmas touched us and made us want to try and make it a happier day for them.”
With the support of the Washington Arms, they were able to donate £250 worth of toys and items to the children this Christmas. This kind act is greatly appreciated as it brings a happy smile to those spending their festive celebrations in hospital.
Tesco
Many families can find it difficult to embrace the festive spirit for a whole range of reasons. Kathryn Jobes, who runs the women’s cancer detection society in Gateshead Health’s breast screening, made a special delivery to the children’s department with the help of Tesco at Trinity Square Gateshead. They demonstrated that ‘every little helps’ by donating over 100 toys with a note explaining what each present was. These gifts were great for the kids as it kept them occupied during their stay at the hospital and their parents were very thankful to see their kid’s priceless happy reactions.
Angel Motorcycle Training
Keith Jewitt, Managing Director of Angel Motorcycle Training kindly donated selection boxes for the children being cared for by Gateshead Health. Around half of these selection boxes were donated by current and past students of Angel Motorcycle Training Keith and his crew wanted to support the local community with their most popular suggestion being to ride to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to deliver selection boxes for children who are unwell over Christmas
Pat Stephenson
Pat has been a prolific fundraiser for Gateshead Health Charity as a thanks for the treatment she has received from Gateshead Health. Pat hosted a Christmas Fayre and a raffle over the festive period to raise more money for our Charity. Pat brought the Christmas fun to all who attended with kids getting to meet Santa and adults receiving huge raffle prizes putting smiles on everybody’s faces. Throughout 2023 Pat raised a whopping £2,294 for the Chemotherapy day.
Wendy Oliver, Senior Nursery Nurse, said “The staff on the Paediatric Department were absolutely delighted with all of the wonderful gifts and selection boxes that were donated by local people and companies.”
Larger gifts were kept for children who had to stay in hospital overnight but the smaller gifts were given to children before and also after the Christmas period in the Children’s Day Unit, Outpatient Department and Peapod – the children’s emergency assessment unit.
Some of the favourite gifts were the arts and crafts materials, this enabled the children to have something to keep them occupied during their stay.
The younger children enjoyed the baby dolls and toys that made musical sounds, while teenagers really loved the fleece blankets and cosy hot water bottles.
It was lovely to see the reaction of each child when they were given a gift.
One parent whose child had to stay in hospital overnight and was very tired said she was so overwhelmed by the kindness of the gifts.
One of the younger children said, “It’s been great staying in this hospital because the present from Santa made me happy.”