TRUE COLOURS ROOM PROVIDES A BREATHING SPACE FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

The True Colours Trust provided a generous grant so that the non-clinical room - a haven from the busy ward environment - could be made possible.

It is one of 20 such rooms that The True Colours Trust has funded across the country and it hopes other hospitals will be inspired to create ‘Breathing Spaces’ on their wards, which will greatly improve the experiences of parents and carers of children in hospital.

Lisa Meehan, fundraising manager at Our Hospitals Charity, said: “We were delighted to collaborate with True Colours Trust who share our vision of creating spaces that promote wellbeing for parents that are going through a challenging time.

“This room will benefit so many families and we are so grateful for their support to enable us to make this happen.”

Cathy Brammer, lead nurse for children and young people at James Cook Hospital, said: “I want to say thank you so much to The True Colours Trust for their help and supportthe room looks amazing as does the kitchen.

“We are so grateful; it’s really making a huge difference to families already.”

Ward manager Naomi Hewett added: “We were extremely lucky to secure funding for our parents’ room pre-COVID, it has been a long time coming to see our mood board now transformed into this wonderful space.

“We now have a welcoming, calm and tranquil space for our parents to use throughout their child’s hospital stay.

“We are extremely grateful to all those involved in the development of this space which will without doubt make our parents’ stay that little bit easier.”

A spokesperson for The True Colours Trust said it was fantastic that the team at James Cook shared their vision for creating “this wonderful new space”.

“The room demonstrates that it is possible to create comfortable, welcoming spaces in hospitals for parents to take time to rest, eat together or just have some breathing space away from the bedside of their child,” they said.