£250K appeal launched for children in Bristol fighting cancer

A £250,000 appeal has been launched to improve facilities for children being treated for cancer in Bristol.

The money will fund the transformation of the bone marrow transplant unit at Bristol Children's Hospital to create a children's cancer unit with an improved play area and family facilities.

Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal has launched its fundraising campaign with the support of Downend mother Paula Banks, who spent years in and out of the hospital when her son Jack had leukaemia. The brave boy lost his battle with the disease in July 2008 at the age of nine but his family and friends have raised almost £50,000 for The Grand Appeal in his memory.

Changes are being made at the children's hospital to make space for additional services that will transfer from Frenchay in 2014 along with the relocation of the adult bone marrow transplant unit to the nearby oncology centre. This will leave space for the paediatric oncology ward to move up to level seven of the city centre hospital and be combined with the bone marrow transplant unit, to create the dedicated children's cancer unit for the 5,000 young patients treated at the hospital every year.

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Money raised through the £250,000 appeal will be used to build a new conservatory and playroom for youngsters being cared for on the cancer unit and a parents' room and kitchen to give families somewhere to relax away from clinical areas.

Funds will also go towards en-suite facilities in the bedrooms for children being treated for cancer and leukaemia.

Lead cancer nurse and matron Helen Morris has been working with Mrs Banks and other parents to design the new family areas.

Jack was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia in November 2003 when he was four and went on to have chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant from his brother Joe, who was then eight. The youngster was in remission for two years before relapsing, and then relapsed a second time a year later.

Mrs Banks, family and friends have done skydives, half marathons, abseils and bag-packing to raise money for the Grand Appeal, with Jack as "the driving force".

"I think the play space is going to be great. I am completely behind it having experienced both wards and I think it will be a good thing to bring them together," the client support administrator said.

Mrs Morris said that parents have asked for space in the new play area for children to ride their trikes, while they hoped to make the family areas comfortable and welcoming.

Jacqueline Cornish, head of women's and children's services at the hospital and director of the paediatric stem cell transplant service, said the new integrated cancer centre would be an important development for both Bristol, the South West and beyond as children from Northern Ireland, South Wales and Cambridge also attend the unit for bone marrow transplants.

Dr Cornish said: "It is critical that we attend to the whole child and the whole family.

"When a child has to be in hospital having fairly intensive therapy we need to do as much as possible to make the environment as pleasant and child-friendly as we can."

She said that "icing on the cake" touches like the improvements to the children's cancer unit that the Grand Appeal supports were an important part of caring for young patients.

To support the cancer appeal visit www.grandappeal.org.uk.