Kentish Express Ashford & District
Thousands raised for theft-hit ward
Staff at a hospital ward have thanked the community for rallying behind an effort to replace stolen toys.
The Padua Children’s Ward at the William Harvey had a number of consoles and tablets go missing in March.
After hearing this, Vanessa Deacon – who was in the ward with her 13-year-old son Tyler Coulson – had an idea to replace the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch lite, Chromebook and two Nintendo games.
“I couldn’t believe someone would do that to sick children,” she said.
“Having the tech at the bedside helped get us through, especially at the moment when we can’t leave the ward to go to the playroom because of the Covid restrictions.
“We would not have coped without it so I really wanted to replace it.
Vanessa’s friend Chris Kennedy got in touch with Radio Ashford, with presenter Sam Griffin creating an online fundraising page which was promoted by breakfast presenter John ‘Webbo’ Webster.
Ms Deacon said: “I’ve done some fundraising before after having to give up work when I was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder so I thought I might be able to get some things donated, but I had no idea it would take off like it did.
“The response was incredible and the efforts from everyone at Radio Ashford was brilliant.
“I was sitting here watching the total go up and up – we hit our £500 target in 20 minutes, and in a few hours we had £2,000 and it just kept going.”
The total soon reached £5,100, and people even showed their generosity by donating replacement items.
That included one eight-yearold boy who – upon hearing of the thefts – unplugged his games console and wrapped it up to donate it to the cause.
Ms Deacon said: “The ward is absolutely amazing and the care they give is fantastic -they look after parents as well as the children and it is always done with a smile and with compassion.
“The response just shows how important they are to our community.”
Ms Griffin, who co-ordinated donations of equipment as well as money, said the team had been happy to help.
She said: “So many people from Ashford, including many of our team, have had children on this ward.
“News of the thefts really touched the community and we were overwhelmed with the response.”
The Padua Ward staff were similarly “blown away” by the influx of money and items, according to ward manager Lindsay Wheeler.
She said: “There were a lot of happy tears among the team. It is beyond wonderful to have been given this fantastic amount of money as well as the replacement items and so much more.
“We use toys and games as distraction but also to help get our young patients out of bed and active doing their physio, and thanks to this amazing fundraiser even more children will be able to benefit.”
The money will be held by East Kent Hospitals Charity while staff decide how to spend it.
The Padua donations come after Barratt Homes also gave to the hospital.
The developer – which is building homes at Chilmington Green – donated £1,000, adding to a £1,500 donation the company gave the hospital last year.
Last year’s sum was split equally between the Twinkling Stars Maternity Bereavement Suite, the Child Health Appeal for the Padua Ward playroom, and the Helping Your Hospitals Appeal.
This year the money will go towards the Helping Your Hospitals Appeal to support staff wellbeing, providing initiatives such as snacks and drinks for frontline staff on busy wards and wellbeing spaces.
The charity has a dedicated Child Health appeal to support children’s services across the trust.