Our Story
The Healing Power of Play
Radio Lollipop believes in the healing power of play - providing smiles and laughter to children at a time when they need it most.
One in four children are admitted to a hospital before reaching age 16. Though some patients are short-stay, many have a recurring need for care and return repeatedly to hospital. Some who are terminally ill spend much of their short lives in hospital.
Radio Lollipop gives young patients a voice and a choice during their stay. While they can´t say "no" to taking their medicine or receiving treatment, they can request their favourite songs, win prizes and hear their own voices on the radio. Those activities give youngsters a haven of normality in the hospital day which in other respects is strange, different and often scary.
Values
Radio Lollipop believes that:
* above all else it should provide care, comfort, play and entertainment to a consistently high standard
* it should be accessible, available and adaptable to meet the needs of sick children and their families in hospital and elsewhere
* active volunteers supported by professional staff are its greatest asset.
all its people should be trained
* it must uphold the highest standards of ethics and integrity
* it should work as part of the care team supporting the sick child
* it should be fun for all involved
Aims
Radio Lollipop aims:
* to develop Lollipop services for sick children
* to achieve the highest quality of service delivery though appropriately trained and supported volunteers
* to develop its play and entertainment services for sick children in hospital and elsewhere
* to promote the awareness of the importance of play for children in hospital
* to develop co-operative partnerships with hospitals and other organisations with whom we work
* to create the financial resources to achieve these aims.
Radio Lollipop History
Radio Lollipop has an exciting history. It began in 1978 at Queen Mary´s Hospital for Children in Carshalton, Surrey. At the time Queen Mary´s was the largest children´s hospital in Europe with over 460 beds in 36 wards on a site covering over 92 acres. In addition to its paediatric cases the hospital was also home to many children with learning disabilities.
It took just over a year to raise funds, wire the wards, build the studio, recruit the team and get the very first dedicated entertainment service for children in hospital ready.
At mid-day on the 5th May 1979 the very first Radio Lollipop went on-air.
Following a successful first year an application was made to the International Year of the Child Committee for a grant to develop Radio Lollipop. The Committee were so impressed with the work of Radio Lollipop they agreed to provide a grant to enable Radio Lollipop to establish itself as a national charity, and to provide the special Radio Lollipop service in other hospitals.
Since that time there has been an international expansion. In 1985 the first Radio Lollipop outside the UK was started in Perth, Western Australia, at the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children.
From these beginnings the organisation has expanded further with services in America, Australia and New Zealand joining those developed in the UK.
Registered Charity in England & Wales No. 280817, Scotland No. SC039505, New Zealand No. CC34997
Registered Office: Radio Lollipop International Ltd, 6 New Street Square, London, EC4A 3LX
