The Brighton children’s charity Rockinghorse has delivered hampers donated by supporters to staff working at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital.
Rockinghorse said that the treats were a small gesture to thank the doctors, nurses and others working at the Royal Alex for their “tireless efforts during the covid-19 crisis”.
Lucy Pond, the Rokinghorse Challenge events manager, came up with the idea. She said: “The current situation is having a big impact on all the services within the NHS – and the effect on the staff and patients at the children’s hospital is no exception.
“We wanted to thank them for their continued care and support to sick children and their families and, while this is only a small gesture, we hope that staff are able to enjoy treating themselves. They definitely deserve it.”
The hampers were delivered to the hospital this week after being put together by Caroline Davenport Potter, a chef who founded and runs the Davenports events catering business.
She said: “We are proud to work alongside and with the team at Rockinghorse. We love what they do to support not just the children in the Alex but, equally as important, the families of sick children and even the amazing staff. It’s such a wonderful charity to be involved with.”
She included home-made food, including soup, scones and brownies, as well as cheese from the High Weald Dairy, tea from Twinings and pampering products donated by the Body Shop.
High Weald Dairy director Sarah Harding said: “We support Aidan’s Christmas Dinner Project by providing cheese for families staying in hospital at Christmas so, when Lucy approached us to provide some for the hampers being made up for the hard-working doctors and nurses at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, of course we wanted to help.”
Royal Alex chief of service Ryan Watkins said: “We’re very grateful to Rockinghorse for their generous donation of hampers which will be a great boost for our staff. Thank you.”
Dr Watkins added: “Staff at the Alex and Trevor Mann Baby Unit have continued to provide great care to our young patients under challenging circumstances.
“The support that Rockinghorse provides to our patients and staff has never been more important than now.”
