AN EASTER appeal to help make children's hospital stays a little brighter has been launched.

Instead of chocolate eggs, well-wishers are being asked to give a gift of money to the Bay Hospitals Charity so it can buy toys, books and arts and craft materials for the children's wards at Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Furness General Hospital, Barrow.

The charity also hopes to buy toys for the hospitals’ play therapists to help distract and calm youngsters as they go into surgery, as well as bubble tube lamps to relax them during during treatment.

Parent beds are on the wish list, too, so more families can stay and comfort their little ones overnight.

Paula Richardson, head of charity and fundraising for University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the charity, said: “In the run-up to Easter, our charity offices in Lancaster and Barrow receive quite a lot of gifts of chocolate eggs for the youngsters on our children’s wards.

“As lovely as this gesture is and as much as the eggs are appreciated, we have drawn up a shopping list of items we would like to buy for the wards this spring. The items on it are designed to help make the hospital experience more comfortable and less stressful for our younger patients and their families.”

Paula added: ”We are very grateful for any amount people are able to donate. Pence quickly become pounds if enough people get behind the idea. With £5 we can buy quite a lot of arts and crafts materials. With £220, we could buy a parent bed.”

To donate, visit bayhospitalscharity.org/easter. To find out more call the charity on 01524-516064 or 01229-404473.