Children who are unable to leave their hospital bed during treatment can now play their favourite console games, thanks to the creation of a brand new bespoke mobile entertainment solution by UK manufacturing firm, Sound Leisure.
After providing Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity with children’s distraction and play solutions for many years, SLKids, the commercial play division of 41-year-old manufacturing firm Sound Leisure, was commissioned by the charity to provide an entertainment solution for children who are confined to their beds or in isolation wards due to illness.
Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity has taken exclusive first delivery of seven state-of-the-art GameStation Move units, funded entirely by fundraising organisation, Carter the Brave, run by Lucy and Matthew Chatting. The Chatting’s have personal experience of the challenges faced by children undergoing long term hospital treatment, as their seven year old son Carter was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, a type of cancer which affects the white blood cells, and received extensive treatment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
GameStation Move is designed and manufactured in the UK with design input from both the hospital and Carter the Brave, with the singular aim of providing bed-bound kids with a way to have fun and just be kids. Each GameStation Move houses an xbox One or PlayStation 4 console and is able to play DVDs, music and games without the need for a Wi-Fi connection. The units, which are the first of their kind, are completely mobile, allowing movement between patients and wards.
With a design reminiscent of an over-bed table hospital table, the LCD game screen can be raised and tilted forwards so it can be used by children who need to remain laid flat in bed, or lowered and tilted back to be played by patients sitting up in bed or in a chair. Each unit has two controllers so the kids can play with friends, parents or hospital staff with ease.
Mike Black, director at SLKids, said: “Children in hospital can be isolated for potentially very long periods and with patchy Wi-Fi and only a few family members allowed to visit, one can only imagine how the days and hours can drag on for these poorly kids who have so much to deal with already. When the hospital explained the need, we really wanted to develop something that had the potential to bring some fun and familiarity back to their lives.
“We worked closely with the hospital developing numerous prototypes to address key design aspects such as infection control and patient usability, and the result is a completely unique product that we can already see brings huge benefits to young patients.”
Miranda Williams, Public Fundraising Manager at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, adds: “The GameStation Move units will make such a difference to our young patients. One of the key aims of our charity is to improve the hospital environment and experience for our kids and families and these will definitely help to do that. We’re so thankful to the Chattings for their support and are pleased that we are the first children’s hospital in the UK to be able to offer these amazing SLKids products to our patients.”
GameStation Move units are now available to purchase. £50 from each unit sale will be donated to Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity. On site demonstrations can be booked via the website: https://slkidsdesign.co.uk/game-station-move/
About SLKids
SLKids are the UK sole distributor of the IKC range of commercial grade children’s play solutions.
Acting in partnership, SLKids Design develops product concepts to compliment the IKC product line, enhancing SLKids capability to meet the specific needs of customers and clients. All SLKids Design products are developed in the UK and manufactured in Leeds by parent company, Sound Leisure Ltd.
The team understand the rigours that equipment must stand up to. Designs are created specifically with the havok that kids can create in mind. In addition to this, play equipment is hygenic and easy to clean, low maintenance, secure, robust, bright and appealing and most of all fun.
SLKids has installed hundreds of units and systems all across the UK in hospitals, play centres, departments stores, holiday parks and much more. Clients include Great Ormond Street Hospital, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Kingsmill Hospital, P&O Ferrys, Ikea, Booths and Manchester Airport. Visit www.SLKids.co.uk
About Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity
Birmingham Children’s Hospital is a leading UK specialist paediatric centre, offering expert care to over 90,000 children and young people from across the country every year.
Delivering some of the most advanced treatments, complex surgical procedures and cutting edge research and development, the hospital treats one in five children from Birmingham and one in eight from the wider West Midlands.
Every patient and family at Birmingham Children’s Hospital will have been touched by the hospital’s charity in some way. As a result it continually strives to do more for the sick kids in its care, whether that’s a newly refurbished playroom or ward, a state-of-the-art piece of equipment or even a toy at Christmas.
For more information on Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, please visit www.bch.org.uk.
