Staff at Merseyrail have pledged their support to help Alder Hey Children’s Charity fund projects to entertain patients who might be daunted by the idea of a trip to hospital.

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital delivers life-saving treatment to children and young people across the region and beyond, and we’re delighted that staff across Merseyrail, many of whom have experienced first-hand the services that Alder Hey provides, have chosen the charity arm as our Charity of the Year for 2019-2020
Andy Heath
Managing Director

Employees voted for Alder Hey to be Merseyrail’s Charity of the Year for 2019-2020 after whittling their initial nominations down to a shortlist of eight.
Merseyrail kickstarted its fundraising activity with a £10,000 boost which will directly fund more visits from Alder Hey’s resident magician, Barrington, who distracts children in waiting areas and clinics.
The partnership will help fund further distraction across the hospital, with projects including funding to fit treatment rooms with distraction aids ranging from wall coverings to 4D immersive projections.
Considered a particularly important part of a children’s visit, the fitting of treatment rooms with distraction aids is proven to reduce the need for sedation by 40%, meaning children are not exposed to unnecessary medication and allowing staff to treat more children each day.
The fundraising activity will also help fund Arts for Health programmes, which are inspired and led by patients. These are carried out in wards or waiting areas so that as many patients as possible can benefit, and include dance, music, comedy, arts, storytelling, creative writing, digital arts, animation and puppet making.
Andy Heath, Merseyrail’s Managing Director said: “Alder Hey Children’s Hospital delivers life-saving treatment to children and young people across the region and beyond, and we’re delighted that staff across Merseyrail, many of whom have experienced first-hand the services that Alder Hey provides, have chosen the charity arm as our Charity of the Year for 2019-2020.
“We’re very much looking forward to working with Alder Hey over the next 12 months, and to supporting the charity’s valuable efforts to improve the lives of the children whom it serves.”
Merseyrail staff’s first major fundraising event will take place during this year’s Randox Health Grand National Festival, when volunteers will be at both Aintree and Liverpool Central across all three days with collection buckets.
Elinor Freestone, Corporate Account Manager from Alder Hey Children’s Charity said: We are delighted that Merseyrail staff voted to support Alder Hey Children’s Charity in 2019/20. The money raised will go directly to ensure that we provide the best possible journey for all our patients”