Alongside lots of other enjoyable happenings over the summer, Jo and Diana were invited to visit Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH) – a visit that gave us the opportunity to see behind the scenes, learn more about the work of the hospital and, importantly, see how a donation from Soundswell could make a difference.
Soundswell founders, Diana McQueen and Jo Gregory outside Waterfall House at Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Supporting Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Soundswell had decided to donate an unexpected sum of money to support good causes in the city, and Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity was an obvious choice.
Birmingham Children’s Hospital is much more than a hospital serving families in the city. It is a regional and national centre of paediatric excellence, providing specialist care to children and young people from across the country. Families travel from far and wide to benefit from the expertise, facilities and specialist services available here.
We were met and accompanied throughout our visit by Jay Spragg, Regional Fundraiser for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, who showed us around the hospital and helped us understand more about the work supported by charitable donations.
A hospital with a fascinating history
Driving past Birmingham Children’s Hospital from the A38 gives little indication of what lies inside.
The hospital is an amazing mix of ultra-modern spaces alongside parts of the original building, which was founded in 1862 and is Grade II listed.
One of the first things that struck us was the way the hospital has retained elements of its history. At the entrance to Radiology, for example, you can still see part of the original, elaborately decorated tilework.
Original interior in Birmingham Children’s Hopsital
Inside, the clinical environment is often transformed by huge, colourful murals and artwork. These bright, welcoming spaces help to create an environment that feels very different from the traditional image of a hospital.
Creating spaces for children and families
The hospital has also made great use of its outdoor spaces.
Jay Spragg, Regional Fundraiser for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity alongside Jo
There are play spaces designed for children of different ages and abilities, as well as peaceful courtyards and areas where families can spend time together away from the clinical environment.
Children and families staying on the upper floors can look down onto some of these spaces, and yes, there are even real trees!
This may seem like a small detail, but when a child is spending weeks or months in hospital, having access to places that feel more like everyday life can make a significant difference.
Supporting the whole family
Having a sick child is, at the very least, an incredibly worrying time for any family. For some families, hospital treatment can become all-consuming, particularly when care continues over many months through a combination of inpatient and outpatient appointments.
The impact is felt by the whole family.
This is where the work of Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity becomes so important. Fundraising supports projects, equipment and experiences that help to improve the experience of children and their families during what can be an extremely difficult time.
The range of things supported by the charity is both impressive and extensive. Funding decisions go through rigorous processes, while donors who have a particular area they would like to support can often choose where their contribution is directed.
The charity funds essential clinical equipment, but it also supports opportunities for families to enjoy something approaching a normal family experience – with the child receiving treatment, their siblings and sometimes their friends all able to take part.
The hospital’s Medicinema is a wonderful example.
A place for quiet reflection
High up within the heart of the original building is the hospital chapel.
It is a beautiful and peaceful space – a place for spiritual support, but also somewhere for quiet reflection.
It cannot be forgotten, however, that for some children and families, their journey ends at the hospital.
Despite the best efforts of medical teams and the advances in medical science, sometimes children cannot be saved. The chapel provides a place where those children can be remembered, including through the chapel’s memory tree.
Where Soundswell’s donation will go
As a speech and language therapy company, we were particularly keen to support the hospital’s Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) department.
We decided that Soundswell’s donation would fund new therapy resources, including sensory materials and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) resources.
These resources will benefit children and young people receiving outpatient care as well as those being treated on the wards.
The Birmingham Children’s Hospital SaLT department also provides a number of specialist services and is the regional centre for children with cleft lip and palate. The expertise within the department is a valuable resource for other speech and language therapists too – including members of the Soundswell team who may occasionally come across a particularly complex or unusual case.
Knowing that specialist advice and support is only a phone call away is hugely reassuring.
Ultimately, that collaboration benefits children and young people.
During our visit, we were introduced to Grace, pictured above, who is working towards her speech and language therapy qualification through the apprenticeship route.
You can find out more about the Speech and Language Therapy apprenticeship route on the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists website.
Bringing the SaLT department to life
The SaLT department itself has also been transformed by colourful murals created by talented artist Charlotte.
The artwork makes the most of the available space and helps brighten what could otherwise be a fairly dark clinical environment with limited natural light.
You can find out more about Charlotte’s work on her wonderful website.
Grace also demonstrated an impressive piece of equipment funded by a donor.
The equipment provides children and young people with speech sound production difficulties with real-time visual feedback about how the different parts of their mouth and tongue move as they produce sounds.
This can be particularly useful when working on sounds such as /t/ and /k/, where errors can sometimes become habitual and more difficult to change.
It was fascinating to see how technology and specialist clinical expertise can work together to give children a different way of understanding and practising speech sounds.
Why this matters to Soundswell
Soundswell provides speech and language therapy services to schools and settings across Birmingham and the wider region.
It is highly likely that many of the schools we work with will have supported a child who has, at some point, benefited from the specialist services provided by Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Our visit also gave us an insight into some of the wider work carried out by the hospital charity. Jay explained that the fundraising team visits schools and also offers tours for children.
We thought this was a fantastic idea.
Giving children the opportunity to see inside the hospital, learn about the people who work there and understand how fundraising can make a difference helps to make the hospital feel less mysterious and, potentially, less daunting.
It also provides an opportunity for the charity to engage with a younger audience and raise awareness of the support available to children and families.
Every donation makes a difference
Our visit gave us a much greater appreciation of the breadth of work supported by Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity – from specialist clinical equipment and therapy resources to family activities, play spaces and places for quiet reflection.
Every donation, no matter how large or small, can help improve the experience of children and families who find themselves needing the specialist care provided by Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
So, if you are looking for a charity to support through your school or setting’s fundraising activities this academic year, why not consider Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity?
Find out more about fundraising for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity https://www.bch.org.uk/fundraise/
We were delighted that Soundswell could make a contribution – and even more pleased to see first-hand how donations can be put to such positive use.
