WELL-WISHERS across Bradford have been giving toys and games to put smilies on young faces in hospital this Christmas.

Children's ward staff at Bradford Royal Infirmary have been receiving gifts by the sackfuls in the run up to Christmas Day and are expecting a visit from the man in red and white himself on the big day itself.

Ward sister Debra Rawling has spent more than 30 Christmases looking after poorly children who can not be at home with their families over the festive break.

"After all those years it's still as exciting as ever when Santa comes on to the ward to hand out presents. We do our best to keep everything jolly and have a bit of a party atmosphere," she said.

Mums and dads and families are encouraged to spend the day on the ward while other children who are well enough or are between treatments are allowed to go home just for a short time.

"For children it's the biggest and best day of the year so we want it to be as special for them as we can possibly make it," said Mrs Rawling.

Toy drops from local businesses and appeals have been picking up pace in the past few weeks, yesterday it was the turn of Asda's Cemetery Road Store when staff dressed as Santa's little helpers and Santa himself called in with boxes of wrapped colouring books and pencils for each of the 63 young people who will be on the BRI'sthree wards over Christmas.

Asda Community Life Champion Ingrid Fernandes put a trolley in the store to collect gifts from shoppers and the store put in an extra £100 to finish buying all 63 parcels needed.

Ten sacks of gifts were also coming from a radio station appeal and were being collected by the Bradford Hospital Charity's fundraiser Hayley Collis.

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Bradford Hospitals' Children's Charity is one of the trust funds within that charity which each year bring in between £20,000 and £25,000 to help buy extras for young patients.

"We don't substitute what the NHS provides, it's all for the fluffy bits that make life on the wards a bit brighter for the children," said Mrs Collis.

One of the youngsters benefitting is four-year-old Cameron Rayner, of Shipley, - a regular on the ward after being diagnosed with an immune disease almost two years ago.

At first, doctors thought Cameron had a virus when he suddenly stopped walking and could barely move but hospital tests went on to reveal he had JDM - which means his immune system attacks his own body.

Every eight weeks the High Crags Primary School pupil visits the ward for treatment that puts his immune system to sleep but that means he is vulnerable to infections.

His mum Becky Stevenson said: "We donate presents ourselves because we know just how important it is to have toys to distract poorly children and try to take their minds of feeling poorly or waiting to have operations."

Also visiting the children's ward was Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw (Lab, Windhill and Wrose), a self-confessed gamer, who put the hospitaI in touch with Child's Play - a gaming charity that started out in America putting a wishlist of DVDs and toys up on the internet for people to buy presents on-line and gift direct to their local children's ward.

BRI is one of only ten hospitals so far in the UK which are part of the scheme and gifts are starting to flow in.

Cllr Ross-Shaw said: "I've grown up with playing computer games so I know how they can pre-occupy your mind and be a bit of an adventure so when I found out about Child's Play I thought I should let someone at the BRI know about it."

A total of 80 presents have also been donated to the hospital by Anthony Gribbin, of Leaventhorpe Hall, Bradford.

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