This time last year, our son was admitted to hospital.

We spent the festive season there, much like many winters over the past 13 years. While the world outside sparkled with Christmas lights, our days were filled with beeping monitors, treatment plans, and quiet prayers.

And we were not alone. Across the UK, thousands of children spend Christmas in hospital. Many live with long-term health conditions like sickle cell, cancer, or congenital illnesses.

Conditions that don’t take a holiday.

Parents hold brave faces, hiding their exhaustion and fear. Siblings wait at home, wondering when their family will feel whole again.

That’s why this year, we’re raising funds for our Winter Joy Boxes! 😊🎁

Gifts created to bring warmth, comfort, and a touch of happiness to children and families spending this season in hospital.

Each pack is thoughtfully designed in consultation with hospital play specialists to meet the real needs of children spending long weeks or even months in the hospital. This includes wards providing bone marrow treatments and specialist surgeries, where children often stay in isolation rooms for infection control and can’t see other patients or visitors.

To bring comfort and joy in those moments, our packs include a mix of age-appropriate gifts for both boys and girls. These small but meaningful gestures remind every child and parent that they are seen, loved, and not forgotten — even behind the closed doors of a hospital room.

We’ll also be extending that love to the nurses and hospital staff who spend Christmas caring for others, often away from their own families.

Through Crescent Kids, we’ve partnered with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust & University College Hospitals NHS Trust. Covering over 100 beds across general and specialist recovery wards, to make sure every child and family receives something that lifts their spirits this winter.

Your donation will help us deliver these gifts of comfort and care.

Hear from from the head of play specialists at St Mary’s Hospital ⤵️😊