Hi, This is KT Tunstall and I will be reading a story by Roslyn Neely, which she has contributed to Gratitude, a wonderful public art installation which commemorates and pays tribute to the incredible work of our key workers and reflects the stories and contributions of this unprecedented time.
‘A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER’ BY ROSLYN NEELY, CEO OF EDINBURGH CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CHARITY
When the children left the hospital wards to shield in their own homes, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity moved Heaven and Earth, toiletries and toys, and even a whole library of books to make lockdown life that little bit more normal.
The story
‘A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER’ BY ROSLYN NEELY, CEO OF EDINBURGH CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CHARITY
In the first wave of the pandemic, there was no certainty as to what effect it might have on seriously ill children. News from around the world suggested that, thankfully, Covid-19 wasn’t impacting on children’s health in the same way it was for adults, but so little was known about this new virus that no one was taking chances.
NHS non-emergency procedures and appointments were cancelled, and parents feared for their children’s safety so they kept them at home, isolating. The hospital was very quiet throughout, with only one family member allowed to visit at a time, and the playrooms were all closed. The Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity supports the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and we knew we wanted to do everything possible to continue to help the families in their care. So we asked the families and the NHS staff: “What do children need right now?”
We’ve always put together care packs for families being discharged from hospital so, as the supermarket shelves emptied of vital supplies, we decided to adapt these into Care, Toiletry and Activity Packs. Within two days, we’d turned a drop-in centre into a warehouse full of non-perishable food, toiletries, arts and crafts, toys and games – and we had an amazing team of volunteers to put the packs together and deliver 3,000 of them to doorsteps. We even had a local motorbike group helping us out – the children loved it when a biker on a fancy motorbike roared up to their doorstep with a bag of goodies!
We all got such a buzz, knowing the difference the packs would make. Parents told us they were a lifeline; one mum said that receiving the parcels was an amazing relief and feeling, not only from the stress of not being able to get out or to buy what her two sons needed, but also just to know that people they have never met cared about them.
So that made us think, ‘What else can we do?’. Someone mentioned that all the public libraries were shut, and we wondered if maybe we could borrow ALL the books! Edinburgh City Libraries gave us their Book Bus, and off we went; even though the children couldn’t be out in the world, they could still go on all sorts of fantastic adventures through books.
For a child, coming to hospital is pretty scary at the best of times, but seeing everyone wearing PPE made it even more daunting. We have an astronaut, a firefighter and a ghostbuster character that the children are used to seeing in PPE, so we made a short film with them to show how these special suits are helping the doctors to stay safe. The children loved it, and I think a few adults found it comforting as well!
In a year when everyone’s lives were hugely impacted by the pandemic, knowing our incredible funders, supporters and volunteers were there when we needed them most made us feel eternally grateful.
Thank you for listening to this story. For more stories and information on Gratitude, please visit: www.thisisgratitude.co.uk
