Portable library delivered to Furness General Hospital!

We are incredibly proud to announce we are now supporting a new hospital!

On Saturday we donated our biggest ever book trolley to the children’s ward at Furness General Hospital!

The trolley was donated thanks to the fundraising of hundreds of children in Barrow who took part in our Schools Reading Challenge earlier in the year. Pupils from Roose Primary, Brisbane Park Infants, Yarlside Academy, Cambridge Primary and Newbarns Primary and Nursery School all took part in the challenge as part of World Book Week and raised over £3000 between them.

Thanks to this amazing fundraising the library of hundreds of books, from baby books to teenage novels, will be available 24 hours a day on the Children’s Ward. Reading to children in hospital has been proven to aid recovery, strengthen family bonds and provide some normality for families in times of stress. The difference these books will make to families is massive, as we know from personal experience reading with Evie. Having the books available 24 hours a days for families will mean so much to them, whether it is to read to distract the child during treatment, to entertain them when they aren’t feeling well, or for a bed time story (or even for the parents to read while their child is asleep!) we know all the trolleys we donate get used non-stop! You can hear from some of the ward staff in the video below as they explain the difference the libraries we donate make…

We hope that this is the start of a fantastic new relationship for the charity, helping more children and their families in our area who are cared for in the south of Cumbria!

If you would like to find out more about our reading challenge so your school can get involved in funding a portable library for a children’s ward in our area you can by clicking here.