Comforting PJs help kids

Being in hospital is a tough time for any kid but a new initiative aims to brighten up children’s stays at Hutt Hospital with brand new pyjamas.

The inaugural PJs for Hutt Kids drive, run by Hutt Valley DHB and the Warehouse, was launched on June 21 and organisers are already overwhelmed by the response.

Members of the public have been asked to donate new pairs of kids’ pyjamas to the hospital, to help keep them warm in the winter months.

Warehouse Petone fundraising coordinator Tracey McNeil found it was a cause close to her heart.

Her four-month-old granddaughter was admitted to Hutt Hospital last October with bronchiolitis, a respiratory illness.

Providing pyjamas could go a long way in comforting children, she said, especially if it meant not having to wear a hospital gown. ‘‘Pyjamas are more personal to them.’’ Donations have been flowing in since June 12, when a post was made on the DHB’s Facebook page calling for spare pyjamas.

McNeill said to start off the donation bin, the Warehouse put in eight pairs of pyjamas. The most recent count showed the number had grown to 73 since then.

Hutt Valley DHB chief executive Ashley Bloomfield said the support the hospital had received so far was fantastic.

‘‘The response from this has been phenomenal.’’ The pyjamas kept kids ‘‘warm and well’’.

Hutt Hospital clinical nurse manager Sagni Prasad said between 230 and 270 children passed through Hutt Hospital every month during winter, often due to respiratory illnesses.

A recent study from Otago University researchers found 17 per cent of children in the Hutt DHB area have asthma, a rate 3 per cent higher than the national average.

The PJs for Hutt Kids drive will continue throughout winter, wrapping up in August.

Donated pyjamas must be new, for children aged one to 10 and the garments must conform to New Zealand Fire Safety Standards.

Drop off points are at Hutt Hospital, the Warehouse Petone and the Warehouse Lower Hutt.