Give the gift of play
Can you help us raise £75,172 to transform the existing playground area at the Poole Hospital Child Development Centre?
Access to an outdoor space is so valuable for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities who are being assessed and treated at our centre – giving them the freedom to exercise, a space for additional therapy and the opportunity to explore their sensory environment.
The playground also gives the distraction of play, and a welcome break from the clinical environment of diagnostic assessment.
The facility will provide an improved space for over 2,000 children attending the centre each year.
Existing playground
Planned playground
Based at Poole Hospital the child development centre (CDC) offers a multi professional approach to the assessment and treatment of pre-school children with a variety of developmental needs within Poole, Bournemouth and parts of Dorset. The centre offers a family focused service that provides a safe and child friendly environment. Developmental play specialists use the facility working with families to plan and deliver care which will enable their children to fulfil their potential.
The centre also hosts school aged clinics for children with possible neurodevelopmental conditions. These will include autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, learning disability and sensory integration difficulties among others.
Integral to the centre is the outdoor play area which supports in the assessment of conditions and provides an area for children to play while waiting, giving them the freedom to exercise and have space to explore whilst undergoing parts of a diagnostic assessment.
Costing £75,000 the new equipment replaces equipment installed over 15 years ago; refurbishment of the area and the equipment is required to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose and provide appropriate space for the children to utilise and benefit from.
The area is not only used by children accessing the centre – the health play specialist team also bring long stay inpatients to the outdoor play area, some of whom need wheelchair or supported mobility access, so the additional accessibility and sensory inclusion features planned will increase the number of children and young people who will greatly benefit from this area.
The longer term plan is to eventually move the CDC to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital site, as part of the wider reconfiguration of services plan for University Hospitals Dorset and currently estimated for 2025. To ensure that the current patients have access to appropriate facilities and equipment when the service is relocated and ensure the longevity of the equipment we have worked with the proposed supplier/installer to confirm the equipment can be moved when required.
How can you help?
Give what you can today
Donate below or call: 0300 019 4060 / 8449
or send us a cheque made payable to ‘University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity’, with your address on the reverse of the cheque and this flyer to one of our Freepost addresses:
If total funds raised are insufficient or exceed the target then they will be used to support University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity on alternative projects and appeals that are needed most.
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