Rays of Sunshine’s Christmas in Hospitals Grant brightens the lives of seriously ill children spending festive season away from home

Rays of Sunshine is delighted to have awarded three grants to hospitals in Edinburgh, Ipswich and Newcastle to help bring Christmas joy to seriously ill children spending the festive season in hospital.  

Earlier this year we asked for Play Specialist Teams to submit the festive celebration ideas they wanted to be able to bring to wards and hospitals over the Christmas period. Three grants were on offer: two for £1,000 and one for £2,000. Our judging team were incredibly impressed with all the applications. 

The winning applicants of the scheme were Ipswich Hospital’s Children’s Ward, Royal Hospital for Children and Young People Edinburgh’s Lochranza Ward and Royal Victoria Infirmary Newcastle’s Children’s Stem Cell Ward.  

Together, the hospitals have supported hundreds of seriously ill children, young people and their families over the holiday period with the Christmas in Hospitals grant bringing extra joy to this time. 

The three projects the grant has funded are:  

• Ipswich Hospital’s Children’s Ward: Elf & Wellbeing Workshops filled with arts and crafts, entertainment, story time and goodie bags for children spending time in the hospital over December.  
• Royal Hospital for Children and Young People Edinburgh’s Lochranza Ward: A week-long Christmas crafting celebration with a teddy bear’s picnic, messy play, wreath-making workshops, and lots of lovely festive decorations for the ward.  
• Royal Victoria Infirmary Newcastle’s Children’s Stem Cell Ward: Individual care boxes for patients spending Christmas in medical isolation due to stem cell transplants, which feature festive goodies, personal care items, winter PJs and even decorations to use on their individual cubicles. 

Dan Assor, CEO of Rays of Sunshine, said: “We are delighted young patients in Newcastle, Ipswich and Edinburgh have been able to experience festive joy with help from our Christmas in Hospitals grants.  

“We’re proud to support the hospital team’s wonderful ideas and it’s been amazing to see their projects come to life this Christmas. 

“Thank you to our supporters, who help make grant schemes like this possible, so that together, we can brighten the lives of seriously ill children across the UK.” 

Learn more about our Sunshine in Hospitals work: