Hospital and District Services

The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation provides services for patients and families within the Royal Children's Hospital and throughout the wider Health Service District. Ongoing services include:

Wonder Factory

Wonder Factory

The Wonder Factory is an interactive entertainment room, staffed 365 days per year by Foundation volunteers, where kids can play in a fun and safe environment.

The Wonder Factory crew help sick kids and their brothers and sisters enter a world of fun, happiness and wonder that is completely free of the hospital routine.

Here, kids can participate in arts and crafts, play computer games, have their face painted, meet new friends and much more.

The Wonder Factory also enjoys visits from famous friends of the Foundation every year, and organises regular fun events and activities.

 

Wonder Factory Ward Visits

Wonder Factory services reach out to children in the wards who are too sick to get out of bed.

Volunteers bring fun and laughter to the bedside. Uno, play dough, puppets and storytelling always rate highly on the list of play-time requests!

These visits not only make hospital a more interactive place for kids, but give mums, dads and carers a much needed break, a chance to grab something to eat or drink, or some time to meet with doctors.

A roaming loans trolley also enables children to borrow resources like portable DVD players, DVDs, toys and games.

 

Wonder Factory TV

The Wonder Factory's in-house television network broadcasts two channels to kids' bedside television sets in the wards.

Kids love the 24-hour music channel, where they can request a favourite song.

There is also a fantastic selection of kids' movies which work wonders to distract little minds from the stresses of hospital life.

Kids are also able to watch live footage from the Wonder Factory, enabling them to be involved in trivia competitions, ask celebrity visitors a question, and watch celebrity acts perform live.

Parents in Theatre

Volunteers assist parents and carers in the operating theatre - an extremely anxious time.

The Parents in Theatre program was designed to help parents cope as their child is prepared for an operation. Volunteers help gown the parent so they can both enter the operating room together, and provide support before and after the anaesthetic procedure.

Parents are always grateful for the wonderful support of our volunteers. This allows medical staff to focus on the child, while the volunteer offers a helping hand to the parent.

Information Desk

The Information Desk volunteers help make a family's stay less stressful by assisting with enquiries, escorting them throughout the hospital, and providing a friendly face.

Community Child Health Centre Support

The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation provides volunteer support to nursing staff at several Community Child Health Centres, assisting them to effectively run parenting programs and centre operations.

Most recently volunteers took up roles at the newly built Ellen Barron Family Centre, located at Chermside, which offers live-in early parenting programs.

Volunteers assist with orientation for new parents, information desk services and play centre supervision.

Visitors to the Ellen Barron Family Centre will see the attractive range of canvasses decorating the walls of bedrooms and common areas, which the volunteers painted to give the centre a warm and welcoming feel.