insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 08 - October 2015 | Page 97

CHARITY

Volunteers are hugely important to us – without them, we simply wouldn’t
be able to get involved in many of the local events we aim to attend. For
example, we were involved in the recent Children’s Food Festival on Hove
Lawns where we had a stall of activities such as cupcake decorating, a
drawing competition and arts and crafts, which children and their parents
could take part in for a small donation. Volunteers supported us over
the Bank Holiday weekend by helping children with the activities, as
well as being a visual presence for Rockinghorse by wearing our charity
t-shirt. Volunteers also help us with street collections and charity raffles,
tombola’s and auctions at events.

We are currently raising funds to provide extra cardiac monitors for the
Children’s Emergency Department at the Alex, as well as fundraising to
build a brand new sensory room to be located in the Play Department
within the children’s hospital. We also have a dedicated fundraising
campaign for SCBU and TMBU underway where we are planning to
refurbish the parent rooms and provide more specialist incubators.
We are privileged to receive dedicated support from the people and
businesses of Sussex and we see ourselves as very much a ‘community’
charity which serves local children and their families. We hope readers
feel inspired to help us continue our work to make life better for sick
children in Sussex.

Children should always be children is the ethos behind Rockinghorse.
It’s part of what makes them recover more quickly. Going into hospital
can be a bewildering and unsettling experience for a child and we strive
to make the experience less daunting by not only providing toys and
games to distract patients from painful treatment, but also providing
areas of therapeutic rest and play both inside and outside of the hospital
environment.
In May this year, we opened a Sensory Garden for young patients and
their families at the Alex. This outdoor area includes sensory equipment
to help promote social and developmental as well as providing a quiet
and reflective space. We also recently funded two new electric cars for
the Surgical Ward at the Alex which are used by young patients who are
waiting for an operation and may be suffering from pre-operative anxiety.
These cars can be driven by the children down to theatre and helps make
their experience more enjoyable.

www.rockinghorse.org.uk
01273 330044
/rockinghorse.charity
@rockinghorse67

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