The winners of a school competition to design artwork for the North East’s newest hospital have been announced.
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle Eagles joined forces last year to deliver its ‘Hoops for Health’ community programme working with youngsters across Northumberland and North Tyneside.
Since last autumn, professional basketball players have been working with hundreds of schoolchildren to support both Northumbria Healthcare’s health improvement activity and help develop artwork ideas for the new Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital.
The artwork will be displayed in the short-stay paediatric facility at the new specialist emergency care hospital due to open in Cramlington next year.
More than 1,000 designs were entered in the competition for drawings and poetry from youngsters aged between nine and 11 years. The winners were unveiled at Friday’s Newcastle Eagles’ match against Leicester Riders.
The winner of the drawing competition was Daniel Cay, nine, from Northburn Primary School in Cramlington, and the winner of the poetry competition was nine-year-old Leah Devereaux, from Seaton Sluice Middle School.
The runners-up in the drawing competition were Olivia Porter, 11, from Bailey Green Primary School, Killingworth, Deseree Jenkins, five, from Eastlea Primary School in Cramlington, Lucy Beesley, 11,from Shanklea Primary School, Cramlington, and Taylor Owens, 10, fromBothal Middle School, in Ashington.
The runners-up in the poetry competition were Maia Clark, 11, from Ivy Road Primary School, Forest Hall, Cerys James, 10, from Gosforth Central Middle School, Heidi Hamilton, 10, fromJosephine Butler Primary Academy in Ashington, and Joseph Mockford, 10, from Bailey Green Primary, Killingworth.
It is the first timeNewcastle Eagles has worked with a major NHS hospital trust in the region to promote health messages about the importance of exercise, healthy eating and advice on the dangers of smoking.
Andrea Stoker, general manager at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Congratulations to the winners of the art competition and a big thank you to everyone who entered. We were really impressed by the quality of the designs and it certainly was a difficult task selecting a winner.
“It is fantastic that schoolchildren have become involved in our new hospital by coming up with ideas for artwork ideas for the paediatric facility while sharing their thoughts about what images would make them feel more comfortable if they ever needed to stay in hospital.
“It has been a privilege to work with Newcastle Eagles and be part of their Hoops for Health programme.”
Fabulous Flournoy, player coach at Newcastle Eagles, said: “We have been delighted to work with Northumbria Healthcare on this year’s ‘Hoops forHealth’ scheme.
“The art competition has been an additional bonus to the programme this year and the schoolchildren have really enjoyed coming up with artwork ideas for the new hospital.
“The new specialist emergency care hospital in Cramlington is a facilitywhich the schoolchildren can be very proud of and one which will serve their communities well for the future.”
When it opens next year, Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital will become the first of its kind in England to have specialist A&E consultants working on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as specialist consultant cover around the clock.
The development will enable Northumbria Healthcare’s general hospitals to become centres of excellence for planned operations, diagnostic tests and on-going care.
