Work has begun on major renovations in the Paediatric Assessment Unit (PAU) at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, thanks to donations to The ARCHIE Foundation.
Among the major sponsors to the project is John Lawrie Group, who generously donated £25,000 to fund upgrades to five rooms in the unit, where children who have attended A&E are kept under observation for 24 hours.
The work is being carried out one room at a time to minimise disruption to the unit and is due to be completed in August. The five rooms sponsored by John Lawrie Group will be the first of 39 to be renovated. When they’re complete they’ll be revealed to all of the sponsors, including Wood, Nexen, Technip, Harbour Community Fund, EnerMech, Stronachs and Dominion.
The renovations feature child-friendly designs to help the rooms feel as warm, welcoming and comfortable as possible for children and families.
John Lawrie Group’s financial director, Charlie Parker, said: “ARCHIE is a charity pretty close to everyone’s hearts. If you have children, you may well end up at the Children’s Hospital at some point, so it just felt appropriate to sponsor this worthwhile project. The benefit of transforming these rooms will be far reaching.”
Other areas of PAU being upgraded include the ward spaces and the family room.
director of partnerships Cassie Thompson said: ‘We’re delighted that work has begun on the PAU project, and staff at the unit are also looking forward to the upgrades. Most importantly, the renovations will make the experience of being in hospital as positive as it can possibly be for local children.
‘We’d like to say a huge thank you to our sponsors for their generous donations, without which this work just couldn’t happen.’
