Seasonal cheer

Unite reps working at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust branch threw a special Christmas party for poorly children at the Royal Oldham Hospital’s children’s department.

And Father Christmas made an appearance on December 16 to hand out presents to the children – all of which were donated by Unite’s Pennine branch, to help bring some festive cheer to the department in the run up to Christmas.

Gifts included teddy bears, jigsaws, helicopters, cars and a large variety of toys. The union also laid on Christmas party food and drink for the kids to enjoy including sandwiches, crisps, jelly and juice. The children unwrapped their presents and joined in to play before taking a break to tuck into the party food.

The Unite Pennine branch donated £1,500 towards the presents and food and the remainder was used to buy educational toys and games for the children’s department. The newly purchased items will be put in the play area which will help staff treat the children and keep them entertained while in hospital all year round.

“This was something we did last year and it was such a success that we have decided to do it again this year” said Gareth Griffiths, chair of the Pennine Acute Hospitals Unite branch.

“We want to show that unions have a personal side and are not just there for industrial issues. We at Unite care about our community and care even more about the children, who after all are our future. The look on their faces when they opened the presents was priceless.”

The branch initiative was praised by Unite regional officer, Gary Owen.

He said, “Reps and branch officials from the Pennine branch have again thrown a Christmas party for the poorly children on the children’s ward of the Royal Oldham hospital. After a year of fixing equipment and industrial issues it was nice to fix smiles onto the children’s faces with a visit from Santa , presents and party food at this special time of the year.”