News FeedOur 2011 Charities
Eastbourne District General Hospital
Liz Vaughan and Ollie Turner at Friston Ward
Friston Ward is the children’s ward at Eastbourne District General Hospital where up to 26 children stay at any one time.
The staff have made the ward very welcoming, but the playroom is now rather tired. Together with Rockinghorse, staff members have come up with a plan to transform the playroom and create two further rooms: a teenage room for the older children to enjoy and a parents room, where mums and dads can have a break.
It will make a huge difference to the ward for staff, parents and children and will cost £120,581 to complete the transformation.
http://www.rockinghorse.org.uk/projects/hospitals/eastbourne-district-general-hospital
The Bungalow
Rockinghorse's fundraising launch at The Bungalow in Eastbourne
The Bungalow is a respite centre in Eastbourne for children with a range of health needs from those with learning disabilities to children with complex medical needs. The centre offers parents a chance to get a much-needed break, safe in the knowledge that their children are receiving the best possible care.
There is much at the Bungalow for the younger children but something is very much needed for the teenagers. As a result, Rockinghorse wants to develop an outdoor activity area for the older children.
The activity area will have fun outdoor exercise equipment including a hand operated static bicycle and pull-up machines that children in wheelchairs will be able to use. Across the walls will be tactile finger-mazes and the whole area will be covered by a hyperbolic sale shade.
The whole area will provide stimulation and fun while getting the children outside into the fresh air. To achieve this Rockinghorse needs to raise £22,531.
To donate money to this project or to find out how you can get involved, contact us on 01273 730286.
http://www.rockinghorse.org.uk/projects/respite-centres/the-bungalow
Eastbourne RNLI volunteers
look forward to a new,
state-of-the-art lifeboat for 2012
Volunteer lifeboat crew members in Eastbourne are delighted after receiving the news that they’re set to receive a new ally in the fight to save lives at sea.
Crew members, shore helpers and the entire lifeboat community are thrilled at the announcement that the station, which has had more than 90 emergency callouts already this year, has been allocated the latest class of lifeboat, the Tamar.
The Tamar is a state-of-the-art lifeboat and the most advanced vessel in the entire RNLI fleet. At a cost of £2.7M, it hosts a wealth of new, superior technology, including suspension seats to protect crew in severe weather conditions. It also boasts an advanced onboard computer system, which allows complex tasks, such as engine and navigation management, to be carried out from flat LCD screens situated at the crew’s seats. This feature means that, in extreme conditions, the volunteer crew can monitor and operate the vessel without any of them leaving the relative safety of their seats, but equally the vessel will remain fully functional in the event of the system going down.
Paul Metcalfe, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Eastbourne RNLI, said:
"The crew and I were aware that the station was earmarked for a new lifeboat at some point in the future, but we were thrilled to be told that we are receiving a Tamar class lifeboat".
"The new £2.7M Tamar lifeboat will replace the current Mersey class lifeboat, The Royal Thames, which has served us well since 1993 and has launched on hundreds of rescue missions during her operational lifetime".
"We will also need to construct a mooring pontoon within Sovereign Harbour to berth the new lifeboat alongside and to assist with refuelling and allow for electrical power on board, so this is a really exciting new development for Eastbourne RNLI".
"The Tamar, which was brought into the RNLI fleet in 2007, also carries a
Y-class inflatable daughter craft, which is housed in a recessed area in the Tamar’s stern. This allows the crew to access shallow water and navigate in closer quarters where a rescue demands it. The Tamar is capable of speeds of up to 25 knots and is the result of several years of research and development by the RNLI to produce the next generation of both afloat and slipway launched lifeboats"
