Chester youngster Erin Cross was one of the first people to step into the new Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.
The five-year-old from Upton is a young ambassador of the hospital, having spent much of her time there receiving treatment for leukaemia, which she was recently given the all-clear from.
The new state-of-the-art £250m Alder Hey building, which officially opened two weeks ago, took two years to build and contains 270 beds and 16 operating theatres across five storeys.
Alder Hey in the Park has been uniquely designed alongside a dedicated children’s research and innovation centre and Erin, who has already helped raise money for life-saving equipment for the new building, was thrilled to be shown around by members of Alder Hey’s Children and Young People’s Design Group, who have inspired and had much input into how it looks today.
Clare White from Alder Hey Children’s Charity said: “I would like to thank Erin and all our young ambassadors together with everyone who has donated to our appeal.
“Alder Hey Children’s Charity has already raised over £20m for the new Alder Hey, which means the hospital will feature lifesaving equipment, vital research and arts and play activities, many of which will be unique to Alder Hey.
“However we still need people to dig deep! We are still fundraising to provide child-friendly environments in wards and waiting areas and to support innovation and research in the new hospital. This will enable Alder Hey to continue to provide the most leading-edge solutions for children’s health care in the future,” she said.
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Louise Shepherd, chief executive of Alder Hey, added: “Our new Alder Hey in the Park has been designed to meet the expectations of patients who wanted to be looked after in a state of the art facility that was fun, helped them recover quickly and most importantly, didn’t look like a hospital.
“This was a once in a life time opportunity to create something really special for our patients, families and staff; a dedicated healthcare facility providing the very best treatment and care to thousands of children and young people.”
