COVID-19: charity launches appeal to help shielded children stay at home
Posted 12 May 2020 - 11:50
More equipment needed to help Roald Dahl nurses care for vulnerable children
Seriously ill children need help to stay shielded during the COVID-19 pandemic, a charity has warned.
Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity has launched a fundraising appeal to provide potentially life-saving equipment to ensure the thousands of vulnerable children cared for by its 78 specialist nurses can remain safe by staying at home.
Roald Dahl charity plans to employ more specialist children’s nurses
The organisation, which currently helps about 21,000 children who have compromised immune systems, making them more vulnerable to COVID-19, also plans to extend its reach by employing more nurses.
Actor Julie Walters, a patron of the Roald Dahl charity and once a nurse herself, said the nurses are a lifeline to the children and families they support.
‘Now, more than ever, they are working to ensure the vulnerable children in their care are properly shielded, and can stay safe and well,’ she said.
The charity’s chief executive Louise Griew added that while the needs of the seriously ill children it supports had increased during the pandemic, the charity’s income had fallen.
Home-installed monitoring equipment can help children avoid trips to hospital
‘We believe every seriously ill child deserves a Roald Dahl nurse and we want to raise as much as possible so we can increase the number of children we reach,’ she said.
‘I would urge everyone to donate to our appeal so our nurses can continue to do their vital work in the NHS during this challenging time.’
Recently, the charity has helped 80 families with children who have life-limiting, neuromuscular illnesses receive monitoring equipment to carry out blood pressure checks and urinalysis at home, rather than take the risks of going into hospital.
Further information
In other news