Evelina Appeal: Visits and celebrations
Guy’s and St Thomas’ has officially opened its new Children’s Allergies and Dermatology Centre, bringing together the children’s allergy department and dermatology services in one specialised unit to provide leading edge services both locally and nationally.
The centre was opened by Lady Finlay who chaired a House of Lords committee inquiry into allergy treatment in 2007, which found that the UK is lagging behind the rest of Europe in providing treatments for people with allergies.
Professor Gideon Lack who leads the unit said: “This service brings together research and clinical care to benefit patients. By working together as a multi-disciplinary team we are able to break down barriers and drive forward clinical knowledge to provide excellent care for patients.”
The children’s allergy team comprises of three specialist consultants, three specialist nurses, dieticians and a large clinical research group. Emphasis is placed on the diagnosis and treatment of food allergies, allergic eczema, asthma, hay fever, drug allergies and urticaria. Over 3,000 children will be treated at the unit each year. The service also provides evidence-based health education and health promotion to children and young people with allergic conditions.
The new unit is a friendly welcoming place for children to visit and be treated with consultancy rooms, diagnosis and treatment rooms as well as a play area. The £1.3million centre was been made possible with a contribution of £750,000 from the Evelina Appeal, and a grant of £250,000 from the Clore Duffield Foundation.
Evelina patients will soon be able to tune into Radio Lollipop, an interactive radio station run by volunteer DJs and staff.
Children will be able to choose to listen to music broadcast to their bedside 24 hours a day from a sand castle booth in the Beach atrium. They'll also be able to get involved by taking part in craft projects, going on air as guest DJs or reading out requests.
The booth has been funded by a generous donation from The Lehman Brothers Foundation Europe. Complementing the financial contribution, Lehman Brothers has also recruited 12 staff volunteers to work with Radio Lollipop. John Southgate, a Director in Capital Markets Prime Services, said: “I’m really looking forward to working with the children and helping to take their minds off their treatment. I’m also looking forward to interacting with the music during the sessions. I’m sure it will be both a fun and rewarding experience”.
Arsenal FC player Philippe Senderos brought smiles to patients’ faces when he visited the Evelina to promote the work of the Appeal.
Amongst his admirers, seven year old Oliver Faulkner, an avid Arsenal fan, was overjoyed to meet Philippe and receive a signed football. He said: “Philippe asked me what position I played and I said attack. 'So', he said, 'you score goals?' I said yes, and that I could beat him too, that it would be a piece of cake.”
Following a tour of the hospital wards, Philippe joined TV chef Ainsley Harriott in the hospital’s atrium to cook up some quick and healthy snacks for an excited audience of patients, family and staff.
Philippe said: “It was great to visit the Evelina today and meet lots of the patients and staff. It’s a really special hospital and I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the cooking challenge! I hope that as well as having lots of fun the children may have also been able to learn more about healthy eating and how important it is.”
The visit was part of the Premier League’s Creating Chances campaign providing charities with a few hours of a footballer’s time to help promote their cause and a gift of £2,000.
Ainsley has visited Guy’s and St Thomas’ on a number of occasions, but his latest visit combined his two main passions in life – food and football. “Healthy eating should be fun and accessible to everybody. It’s about giving children choices and involving them in food preparation while they’re still young. I’m passionate about food, but our visit was about more than that – it also gave the children a chance to forget they’re in hospital and have some fun."
Radio Lollipop volunteers Nikki and John helping Alyia with arts and crafts
Philippe, Marina and Charlie with their healthy snacks made with help from Ainsley