Healthcare students donate gifts to children

Future healthcare staff have already been showing their caring side after donating toys for Wolverhampton and Walsall children in hospital over Christmas.

Health T Level students at Walsall College have donated around 20 gift boxes filled with toys and games for children at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and Walsall’s Manor Hospital.

The Health T Level (equivalent to three A levels) at Walsall College offers work placements at New Cross, Cannock, West Park or Walsall Manor hospitals, where learners may be placed on various wards and departments.

A donation bank was set up in the college’s main atrium, where students from all courses and college staff were able to donate toys. This was open for two weeks.

Items donated included toys for all ages – from helicopters to teddy bears and dolls.

Sarah Lewis, Matron for Acute Paediatrics, was on hand to receive the donation at New Cross. She said: “Thank you all for your generosity. The children will be very grateful for the gifts – I’m sure it will make things that little bit easier over the Christmas period. On behalf of the children’s ward, we hope you have a lovely Christmas.”

Taylor Williams, 16, hopes to study paediatric nursing in the future.

She said: “As a class we wanted to get involved with a charity and do something that would benefit our local communities.

“We imagined the children in hospital and how unsettling it might be, so we wanted to bring some joy with a few gifts this Christmas.”

Alesha Sappleton, 16, added: “We had the idea not too long ago so we all rushed to make posters and get the donation bank set up, but seeing the staff today and how grateful they are made it all worthwhile.”

Dania Downey, 17, said: “It feels really nice to be able to do something like this for the children. We hope it will make a difference.”

Dania is still exploring which area of healthcare she likes best, and classmate Lily Green, 16, likes the idea of working in elderly care.

Lily said: “Some kids are so poorly that they’re in hospital a lot, and it’s not the same as being at home, but hopefully this helps the ward to feel more homely. We hope this donation helps the parents as well, as they’ve got the stress of their child being ill, but hopefully it helps them to see their child having some fun.”