Pupils from Penwortham’s Whitefield Primary School (pictured above) took power dressing to the extreme when they swapped uniforms for superhero costumes to help raise more than £1,000 for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity’s Children’s Appeal!
And they were not the only ones to be sponsored for their best Spiderman, Batman and Supergirl as they were joined by pupils from Leyland’s Lancaster Lane Community Primary, Fulwood nursery Kids Planet plus children participating in the junior park runs at Avenham and Worden Parks closest to National Superhero Day.
For the second year running, the Children’s Appeal team adopted National Superhero Day as a fun way to help boost the appeal, which is fundraising for a raft of improvements to make children’s in and out-patients at both the Royal Preston and Chorley and South Ribble Hospitals, as well as other local centres managed by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, better and more comfortable for young patients, their parents and carers.
Appeal fundraiser Lucy Clark said: “We are so grateful to the schools, nursery and volunteer park run organisers for their fabulous support. Everyone looked great. We are also delighted a number of adults found the hero within themselves and turned out for work in superhero costume!”
Staff from docks-based business networking company Shout Network (pictured below) were among them as were staff at Fulwood’s Gym Works, who also sold healthy bakes and protein snacks made by gym members to boost their donation.
Colin Radnedge, of Preston children’s party planners Fun Valley Events, gave his best Spiderman impersonation when he visited the Children’s Ward at the Royal Preston Hospital in his own time to cheer patients with small gifts donated by the company.
Colin had competition from Captain America, Stroke Rehabilitation Senior Therapy Assistant Jay Collins, who is usually based at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, but also gave up his time at the end of his shift to support costumed Children’s Ward staff to make the day special.
National Superhero Day first launched in the USA in 1995 when employees of Marvel Comics came to work dressed as Iron Man, Captain America and other comic strip heroes in honour of unsung community heroes. It is now a worldwide annual event.
The charity team’s Children’s Appeal launched in May 2021 and to date has raised more than £300,000, which has been spent on portable gaming carts, sensory play equipment, TVs, ceiling panels, noise control SoundEars and family-friendly wayfinding signage among other projects.
