New PJs can make all the difference to sick Hutt children

Being in hospital is a tough time for any child 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 District Health Board 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 children’s pyjamas to the hospital, to help keep them warm in the winter months.

Warehouse Petone fundraising co-ordinator Tracey McNeil said the campaign was a cause close to her heart.

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

Providing pyjamas could go a long way in comforting children, McNeil said, especially if it meant not having to wear a hospital gown.

‘‘Pyjamas are more personal to them.’’

Donations have been coming in since June 12, when a post was put up on the health board’s Facebook page calling for people to bring in any spare pyjamas they may have.

McNeill said to start off the donation bin, the Warehouse had 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 already been phenomenal.’’

Bloomfield said the pyjamas kept children ‘‘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 because of 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 and will wrap up in August.

All 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 the executive reception of Hutt Hospital, the Warehouse Petone and the Warehouse Lower Hutt.

PHOTO: ELEANOR WENMAN/FAIRFAX NZ Hugo, 4, dived into the PJs for Hutt Kids drop-off bin at the Warehouse Petone for the official launch. He was in Hutt Hospital earlier this year.