March 1st was a special moment for Play2Give as a patient room dedicated to the fundraising group was unveiled at Oxford Children’s Hospital
After a decade of tireless fundraising and years of working towards a £40,000 target, a single patient room – supporting teenage patients and their families – was officially unveiled on Wednesday at the hospital, as a thank you to Play2Give.
‘The Play2Give Room‘ was unveiled with a small intimate ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by a celebration over tea and cake with hospital charity representatives.
In 2014, Andrew along with Dale and Teresa – the key organisers of our annual football tournament, sat down with the hospital charity to discuss the potential of sponsoring a room at the Children’s hospital as a long-term impact, and the teenage ward was identified as a perfect area, due to Dale and Andrew’s close personal links to the ward. Then, the group, who was already halfway to the goal, had already raised over £20,000, and the opportunity to name the single room, opposite the nurses station, at £40,000 was set.
The idea to choose a room on Melanie’s Ward came from Dale, whose daughter Mya is treated for Spina bifida, a condition with which she was born fourteen years ago. Mya has received continuous care and numerous operations since she was born, in 2002 – a month before the fundraising campaign to raise £15million to build the hospital was launched.
This year we turn ten years old as a charity group, and we have a packed year full of events and fundraising endeavours planned in a hope to raise £10,000 in our milestone anniversary year, with events to include our football tournament, a black-tie ball and a party on the park.
A huge thank you to all of our supporters, sponsors, volunteers and the community including Sainsbury’s in Didcot, who have helped us to make this very special room achievement possible, over the past decade.