Royal Children's Hospital Foundation, Melbourne

Heroic Mum’s Charity Walk Exceeds Expectations.

Heroic RCH mum Liat Harrower and the Rotary Club of Werribee have raised over $62,000 for The Royal Children’s Hospital’s Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program (VPPCP).

Liat and the Rotary Club of Werribee organised the 200km and friends completed the harrowing nine-day 200km Charity Walk across regional Victoria in March. Despite injuries, soggy feet and blisters the walkers trekked from North East Victoria to Melbourne starting at Harrietville and travelling through Bright, Myrtleford, Beechworth, Bowser, Tarrawingee, Wangaratta and Parkville before finishing in Werribee.

Liat organised the 200km Charity Walk in memory of her son Mitchell who was diagnosed with a rare and incurable genetic condition at only six months old. Liat cared for Mitchell until he passed away in August 2008 at the age of seven. The walk is aimed to raise awareness and funds to help support children with life-limiting conditions and their families through the VPPCP.

 
Palliative care focuses on enhancing the quality of life for the child and support for the family and includes the management of distressing symptoms, provision of respite, and care through death and bereavement. Liat describes the work of the VPPCP, which provided Mitchell with care and support during his final year, as remarkable.
“If it was not for services such as those provided through the VPPCP, it would not be possible for families to spend such precious time with their child.”

In order to raise funds and reach a collective target of $40,000 each walker challenged themselves to raise over $1000. This year the group exceeded that amount as well as their own expectations by raising just over $62,000. This is the third year that the event has been held, with last year’s fundraising efforts raising $25,000.

Liat and her team presented the funds to members of the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation at a celebratory dinner in Werribee. The next 200km Charity Walk is scheduled to be held in October 2013.

• You can help support the work of The Royal Children’s Hospital VPPCP by donating here.

• For more information on The Royal Children’s Hospital VPPCP Program click here.

• To read more about Liat’s fundraising efforts click here.

Immunising Your Baby May Not Be So Painful After All!

Immunising a baby can be a stressful process at the best of times. Luckily we’ve heard news that the process may become less painful!

According to a report by Lucie van den Berg of the Herald Sun, recent findings by US researchers show that parents may finally be able breathe a sigh of relief when it comes immunising their baby.

A study on 234 infants aged two to four months found that five simple techniques- swaddling, shushing, swinging a child on their side or stomach, and giving them a dummy to suck- significantly relieves babies’ pain by triggering their calming reflex. Known affectionately as the Five S’s, the study found the techniques decreased babies’ pain scores and crying time during vaccinations.

The Royal Children’s Hospital immunisation specialist Dr Nigel Crawford said its dedicated drop-in centre for the hospital’s patients already used a variety of age appropriate techniques to soothe and distract patients.
“The common ones are just making the infants feel comfortable when they first arrive. The immunisations are always done in a private side room to make sure the infant and parents feel comfortable,” he said.

If you’re interested in finding out more information on immunisation for your baby at The Royal Children’s Hospital click here.

To read the Lucie van den Berg’s full article in the Herald Sun click here.

Immunisation Week - sounds nasty, but really it’s important!

Australia’s first ever Immunisation Week held from 23 – 29 April 2012 is a great time for parents to consider the vaccination needs of their children, particularly adolescent children.

Victoria currently achieves 92 per cent coverage for free vaccines given to babies and children compared to an estimated 75 per cent for adolescents.

“While Victorian parents are very vigilant about immunisation for babies and young children, we need to ensure that they are aware of the crucial vaccinations available for free in the teen years,” explained Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Rosemary Lester.

“Young people are still vulnerable to disease while they mature into adulthood and immunising against preventable disease is just as important for adolescents as it is for babies and younger children – for their health and the health of those around them,” she said.

“Even though they’re big kids now they still need their parents to take care of their immunisation needs and protect them against preventable diseases such as diphtheria and tetanus,” Dr Lester said.

Advice for parents of babies and children up to age four

• Find out which free immunisations your child is eligible for and when.
• If your child is one or two years old, they are eligible for a free supplementary dose of the enhanced pneumococcal (flu) vaccine until 30 September 2012.
• Protect your baby by protecting yourself with a free whooping cough vaccine for parents, which is available until 30 June 2012.

Advice for parents of adolescents

• Find out which free immunisations your adolescent is eligible for and when.
• Keep an eye out in school bags and school newsletters for information about school vaccination sessions, if they are in Year 7 and Year 10.
• Promptly complete and return consent forms for free vaccinations offered at school.

For more information:

• World Health Organization Western Pacific Region Immunisation Week 2012
• Department of Health, Victoria - Immunisation
• National Immunisation Program Schedule - Victoria
• Immunisation fact sheet

$1.3 million towards ‘making sick kids better’

The Good Friday Appeal team just sent us this image, and we thought we would share it with you. It captures one of the proudest moments of our year - the annual handover of the Auxiliaries cheque at the Good Friday Appeal.

Congrats to the RCH Auxiliaries, who raised a record amount in 2011/2012, and contributed more than $1.3million towards the 2012 Good Friday Appeal.

This image is Carole Lowen, President of Auxiliaries and Sue Manson, Auxiliaries Coordinator handing over the ‘big cheque’ to Jennifer Keyte, GFA Patron from Channel 7.

About The Royal Children’s Hospital Auxiliaries

The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne is supported by a vibrant and dedicated network of Auxiliary groups.  Made up of over 1000 volunteers from all over Victoria, the Auxiliaries are an incomparable force in community fundraising.

Celebrating 90 years in 2012 and having raised over $38 million dollars for the hospital since 1922, the Auxiliaries’ are wholly devoted to their mission:

‘One team working towards one goal – making sick kids better.’

Find out more.

Silent flashmob makes noise about reading

Yesterday a ‘flashmob’ of staff, parents and patients dropped everything to read for 30 minutes at the RCH to highlight the benefits of reading as an essential life skill.

 
The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) is a partner in the 2012 National Year of Reading.  This year is all about children learning to read and keen readers finding new sources of inspiration. It’s about supporting reading initiatives while respecting the oral tradition of storytelling. It’s about helping people discover and rediscover the magic of books.

And most of all, it’s about Australians becoming a nation of readers.
 
For more about National Year of Reading at the RCH visit, www.rch.org.au/education