FreshAir Radio is Edinburgh University's student radio station. We have done a charity broadcast every Fringe Festival; this year, we've chosen Radio Lollipop as our fundraising recipient as the volunteers and the children deserve any and all help they can get to make every day easier and happier!

Radio Lollipop is a long standing charity playing an important role in children’s hospitals all over the world, and their aim and purpose is to provide trained volunteers who can spend time with children from babies/infants right up to teenagers whose needs and wants from us vary hugely. They ensure and promote wellbeing, inclusivity of all ages, and meeting

the communication and sensory needs of each child to create engagement and positive memories of their time spent in hospital. This is delivered through playing games, reading stories, crafts, colouring in, handing out sensory toys, educational activities, and also chatting with families and visiting siblings to make them feel at ease during a challenging time in a new environment. The charity is centered around a radio station, and this is still an integral part of the mission today, having live presenters three nights a week which involves our volunteers on live radio as well as children enjoying the novelty of visiting the studio and being on the radio themselves. It's been proven that recovery times can be shortened, and wellbeing improved when play, entertainment, and education are available to children spending time in hospital, especially over the medium/longer term.

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