Variety of Great Britain

To mark the beginning of celebrations to mark its 25th anniversary of the Freedom Wheelchair Programme, as well as International Wheelchair Day, five wheelchairs were presented to the Variety Children’s Hospital at King’s College London.

We received an application for the manual junior wheelchairs from the nursing staff. The Cheyne Wing of the hospital houses five specialist children’s wards, each of which has been granted its own dedicated wheelchair. Below are the words of the Ward Manager about the need for the wheelchairs and why Variety had to help:

“We are lacking wheelchairs in our unit and this is a big setback in the road to recovery for our children. They are unable to get out of bed, therefore staying in bed for much of the time which then leads to a prolonged stay in hospital. Some of the children need a wheelchair to transport them to the x-ray, scan or eye departments, and to get them to the hospital school. We are unable to do it in a timely manner due to lack of wheelchairs available and they are missing their slots due to delay in getting to other departments. Parents become increasingly upset when their children’s appointments are missed. Nurses are extremely frustrated due to time wasted in looking for, or in locating, a wheelchair. Hence, this is my reason for requesting each ward a wheelchair so that we can deliver care effectively and efficiently.”

The Cheyne Wing is part of the Variety Children’s Hospital. It treats and cares for more than 40,000 sick children each year. Featuring a dedicated critical care centre, a day care unit, the world’s largest children’s liver unit, and allowing parents to stay overnight with their children in specially-prepared beds on the wards, the hospital’s state of the art facilities are saving and changing lives. This relatively small donation, in terms of cost, will have a significant impact on the hospital and continues a long-standing relationship of support between Variety and King’s College Hospital London.