The Play2Give Room at Oxford Children's Hospital

The Play2Give Room was formally opened on the Oxford Children’s Hospital’s teenage ward in March 2017 after raising over £40,000 to fund our own named room.

Picture – courtesy of and credited to Newsquest Oxfordshire

A special tribute from Oxford Children’s Hospital

Our fundraising was so significant that we have funded a single patient room in our name to treat teenage patients for a lifetime

Our impact across a decade was so significant that in 2017 a special tribute from the hospital was honoured to Play2Give in recognition of our years of dedicated support.
A single patient room on the adolescent ward, known as “The Play2Give Room” ​treating teenagers facing long-term hospital stays, saw a small ribbon cutting ceremony with hospital nurses, charity staff and football tournament sponsors along with Andy and members of the team who had been heavily involved in the achievement over the decade

After almost a decade of holding countless football tournaments, raffles, tombola’s, supermarket collections, and charity nights over £40,000 was raised to sponsor the room, situated opposite the nurses station.

A proud moment for Play2Give

This moment was a very proud one in our history, and to this date remains one of the special highlights of our charity. Since, our founder Andrew Baker, who was a former patient of the children’s hospital, was honoured with an MBE in the New Year’s Honours 2021 and is also one of Andy’s  proudest personal achievements.

The room, on Mel’s, was chosen in 2014 in association with the Oxford Hospitals Charity because Andy was a teenager aged 12 when he underwent brain surgery at the former Radcliffe Infirmary and Dale Harris, who played a huge part in organising our earliest football tournaments, whose daughter Mya was treated from birth for Spina Bifida and spent time in the room, from age 12.

This room was a small token of the hospital’s appreciation for our relentless dedication to raising funds over many years and the fact that Andrew began to raise funds in the early days when the hospital was just a dream and a hole in the ground.

Play2Give paid a visit every December

Andrew and some of the team paid a visit to our room pre-Covid every December, when we delivered hundreds of Christmas presents to spread cheer, joy and smiles to the faces of sick children faced with stays in hospital over the festive period. Our room never fails to make the teen staying in feel comfortable and at ease.

So many people, from individuals to companies, supermarkets and groups all helped with this very special lifelong legacy be achieved in our name.

Whilst we can’t thank them all, just some of the special thanks include:

  • Dale Harris
  • Teresa Strike
  • Elaine Childs
  • Craig Harris
  • Sainsbury’s Didcot
  • Breckon & Breckon
  • Newbury Building Society
  • Angela Norris
  • St Birinus School
  • Oxford Mail and Didcot Herald
  • Ann Baker
  • and to the many individuals who took on sponsored challenges to help raise the funds.

Now, we continue to provide extras and items to keep the room equipped and facilitated, most recently a brand new PS5 with games and accessories complete with a fish bubble lamp provided in April 2025, thanks to funds raised in 2024.