A NEW children’s multi-sensory room has opened in an old storeroom at Royal Blackburn Hospital.

The room in the children’s unit, which features equipment including interactive panels, bubble tubes, soft surfaces and fibre-optic lights, was fitted out with equipment thanks to a £5,000 grant from the Gannett Foundation.

The charity, run by the Lancashire Telegraph’s parent firm, gave the money to north west charity MedEquip4Kids, which co-ordinated the scheme.

Three community charitable trusts, WM & BW Lloyd Charity, The John Frederick Leach Trust and the Hilda Clarke Memorial Fund, along with the Rotary Club of Darwen also gave around £7,000 and Lions International, on behalf of several East Lancashire Lions Clubs, donated £1,950.

Tina Webb, matron for children’s services at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We can’t hold back our excitement because we never thought we would get this room so quickly.

“It’s not a big room but it’s such a special room.

“It used to be a storeroom so this is the best thing that could happen to it.

“It is especially helpful for children with disabilities, hearing and sight impairments and life-limiting conditions.

“We can’t begin to express our thanks.”

Vicky Bunnage, projects co-ordinator for MedEquip4Kids, said the room was a ‘real credit’ to local people.

She said: “One of the main things that has come out of working on this project is how almost all of the money, which was more than £14,500, came from the East Lancashire area, which is unusual for us.”

Former hospital play specialist Janine Stot put in the original application for the room.

She said: “It’s exactly as I imagined it.

“It gives kids an escape from the hospital environment.”

Her successor, Kim Butler, added: “It’s for every child but for children with complex needs it gives them stimulation of the senses.

“They can control the environment, the sounds and sights and use the senses they do have. It’s also good for older kids to relax in.”