After the success of the first leg with 18 members of staff participating in the BUPA Great Manchester Run - we are now moving onto the second leg "Great North Run" in September 2012.

18 members of staff took the challenge to raise money for The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. 7 of us will be running in the Great North Run.

Please offer your support by donating, all donations are greatly accepted and will be going towards a very deserving charity.

Running for threesixty in the Great North Run: James Jarrold, Julie Hardie, Lynne Howarth, Gary Crossley. Russell Facer and Tim Ng will be representing the threesixty directors.

Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital

The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital helps to support families during what can be a very difficult time. The hospital is one of the largest children’s hospitals in the country and one of the best.

The hospital treats children from as far north as Cumbria, south to Stoke and across to North Wales. Many of the patients that attend the hospital will have frequent and sometimes prolonged stays. With the support from the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity the hospital can provide additional support over and above the excellent medical care offered.

The Charity is currently supporting a number of projects within the hospital, all of which aim to make life easier for patients and their families.

They are keen to:

• Ensure that the first class paediatric Hydrotherapy pool area is as child friendly as possible with therapeutic lighting, visuals and sound technology.

• Provide a mobile CT scanner that can be brought to a child’s bedside (huge benefit to the patient, not only will it allow for patients to be scanned in the safety of the critical care area but it will help to provide highly important information without delay).

• A Children’s Garden would provide an area for reflection, providing a peaceful and enchanting space for parents and children to take a break.

• Clown doctors engage with a child in a variety of ways with the main aim of allowing the child to be a child – they look for the mischief, the curiosity and the desire to play and help a child to relax. The charity wants to support three clown doctors at the hospital to help bring fun, magic and entertainment to patient’s bedsides. Play is medicine too. From games consoles to arts and crafts materials and sensory equipment, therapeutic play has an important role in helping a patient to adjust to the hospital experience and helping to aid their recovery