Croydon’s children to benefit from £3,000 Fairy Bricks donation
Unwell children in Croydon will benefit from some brand new LEGO today (Friday 23 August), thanks to a donation from Fairy Bricks, Croydon BID and Centrale & Whitgift.
The charity, who have teamed up with local businesses, visited our Rupert Bear ward to gift over £3,000 worth of LEGO to be used by our young patients both in the hospital and out in the community.
Gitta Luchun, Play Specialist at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, says:
“Each year we treat thousands of Croydon children, both in our paediatric units in the hospital as well as through our community services such as our Children’s Hospital at Home teams and our Crystal Children’s Development Centre. During these often difficult times in their lives, the opportunity to play is one of the most important things we can offer to a child, giving them an outlet to express their feelings and creativity in a fun, safe and relaxing environment.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the donation from Fairy Bricks, which will allow us to continue to support our young people when they need it most."
Fairy Bricks is a charity with a simple objective, to give LEGO® to children in hospital. From humble beginnings of a single hospital donation in 2012, Fairy Bricks has grown to now deliver approx. £7,500 of LEGO® sets every month.
Kevin, Chief Fairy at Fairy Bricks, says,
“Play is a vital part of the recovery process when children are in hospital. It provides comfort, distraction and is even used as an educational tool by Play Specialists to assist children with procedures they have to endure. LEGO itself as a product is perfect for this.
“It is an item many children are already familiar with and can provide an instant escape at a very difficult time. Then by its very nature, when tomorrow comes it can be rebuilt to help the same child with something else or move to another child to start the process all over again.”
With the support of Croydon BID and Centrale & Whitgift, Fairy Bricks will also be fundraising in Croydon this weekend as part of the BRICKLIVE event, offering local people the opportunity to take part in building a giant, bespoke mosaic, with all proceeds going to the charity.
Shaun Webster, Croydon BID, says,
“We hope people and children of all ages enjoy participating in building the giant mosaic, which will slowly reveal a unique picture that was specially created for Croydon’s BRICKLIVE event. We are thankful that Fairy Bricks has given us this opportunity to be involved and support its efforts to brighten the lives of children in hospital.”