Sick Teens at Townsville’s Children’s Ward have something to smile about

March 18, 2012

The Children’s Ward at Townsville Hospital received a cheque for $2,500 which will go towards setting up a retreat where the older kids can relax and unwind.

The money was raised by the Brothers Leagues Kids club membership, an initiative of the Brothers Leagues Club.  Each year, Brothers endeavour to help support the local community by way of donation, and with the introduction of the ‘BLK’ club, it was easy to decide who would benefit from the proceeds.

With membership only $1, all money raised from the BLK club, as well as gold coin donations from the kids Leprechaun play room, Craig Thomas, General Manager of Brothers Leagues Club, saw it fit to donate all proceeds to the Townsville Hospital Children’s Ward.

“Established only 10 months ago, the BLK club boasts over 2,000 wonderful members and today, we were able to donate $2,500 to the Townsville Hospital Foundation, from which the Children’s Ward will benefit,” Craig said.

“It was great to meet Alma, a shy yet spirited little girl.  We appreciated her taking the time to speak with us and allow us to take some photos.  We are also thankful to the staff, who were quite busy this morning tending to these beautiful children and also took the time to have their photo taken.”

General Manager of The Townsville Hospital Foundation, Meredith Elley, was grateful for what she said was a generous donation.  The $2,500 donation will go towards the Teen Retreat project.

“Currently we have a fabulous play area for young children in our Children’s Ward.  However, there is nowhere that the older children/teenagers can escape to with age appropriate activities.  Our vision is to create a space for teenagers where they can relax and escape from the “hospital” environment for a few hours.  It is envisaged that the area will have some outdoor sofas, a pool table or foose ball table, flat screen TV and gaming console.  All of which will be protected with a shade sail,” Meredith said.

The Children’s ward accommodates patients and their families from not only Townsville, but the surrounding Townsville Health Service District.  They are a deserving recipient for which Brothers will continue to donate all proceeds from the BLK club to the Children’s Ward, each year.