Hywel Dda Health Charities has launched a brand new Christmas Appeal to support the children’s play services at Withybush, Glangwili and Bronglais Hospitals.

The Give a Gift Appeal aims to make this year’s Christmas an extra special one for those children and young people who will spend the festive period in hospital. The appeal encourages the public to log on to a ‘Wish List’ on amazon.co.uk and buy a gift to support the children’s play services. The Wish List can be found by searching for Hywel Dda on Amazon and includes a wide range of gifts and toys available to purchase ranging from £1 to £50.

Hywel Dda University Health Board’s health play specialists brighten the time that poorly children and young people spend in hospital through therapeutic and stimulating play and these gifts are vital in providing a positive experience to their patients. The team uses their expertise to help children, young people and their families to cope with illness and treatment using a range of therapeutic play based interventions.

Sandra Jones, play services manager, said: “This appeal is an amazing opportunity to highlight the role of the service we provide. These gifts will go towards making a stay in hospital as relaxing and comfortable as possible and will keep children amused and distract them from their illness and pain during their treatment. Sometimes children spend a long time in hospital and we try and ensure that things are as normal as possible with toys and familiar games that they would have at home. This appeal will help us provide the highest possible service and we are extremely thankful for each gift.”

Nicola Llewelyn, head of Hywel Dda Health Charities, said: “We are delighted to launch our Give a Gift Appeal with the aim of putting a smile on the faces of children who spend Christmas in hospital. Each gift purchased will give our health play specialists access to vital resources over the Christmas period and throughout the year to support their fantastic work of stimulating play sessions and improve play facilities within our children’s services.”

All three counties will benefit from the appeal, with gifts being distributed to Withybush, Glangwili and Bronglais Hospitals.

Hywel Dda Health Charities is a registered charity which supports patients, staff and services within Hywel Dda Local University Health Board.