Glarryford’s Amy meets Tayto bosses at Scanner donation handover

FIVE-YEAR-OLD Amy Coleman from Glarryford met Tayto bosses last week when they visited the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children to donate £110,000 to the Royal Children’s MRI Scanner Appeal.

Tayto’s Share & Care campaign has raised £110,000 for the fund, bringing the grand total raised so far to £1.5million.

Charity fundraisers say this hefty addition could bring the £2million total required within reach by the New Year.

Tayto launched Share & Care on its large sharing bags of crisps and snacks last year. It has donated 5p to the MRI Scanner Appeal for every special pack sold. The company’s workforce in Tandragee, their sales teams and retailers have jumped on board as the campaign captured hearts across Northern Ireland.

The Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children is the only children’s hospital in the UK without an MRI Scanner and with a shortage of public funds to secure it the service is relying solely on the generosity of the public to raise the £2million purchase price.

Nigel Kearney of Helping Hand, one of four charities promoting the fund, explained the desperate need for an MRI Scanner for children.

He said, “MRI looks at tissues that x-rays do not show, so it is vital not only in early childhood cancer diagnosis, but also in detecting and treating disorders in the brain, heart disease, kidney disease, bone and joint diseases and many more.”

Dr Louise Sweeney, Consultant Paediatric Radiographer at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children said, “Without a dedicated children’s scanner, children must either travel by ambulance to use the adult MRI in The Royal Victoria Hospital, when capacity is available, or alternatively have their illnesses investigated in another way which may involve radiation or other invasive treatments.

“A scanner located within The Children’s Hospital will facilitate more than double the number of MRI scans, which will be carried out by staff trained in the care of children and in a child-friendly environment. This will significantly benefit sick and injured children from all over Northern Ireland.”

Handing over the Tayto Share & Care donation of £110,000, Raymond Hutchinson, Chairman of Tayto Group said: “It gives me immense pride to see that the people of Northern Ireland have got behind this vitally important cause. Thanks to our generous Tayto customers and staff, we are thrilled that the fundraising campaign can now enter the final push for its target and get the children’s MRI scanner up and running as soon as possible. Through this campaign, we have been humbled to meet many families and children whose lives have been touched by the very real and urgent need for this equipment.”

Nigel Kearney of Helping Hand said, “We have been overwhelmed by the response to this Appeal. The Tayto Share and Care campaign has been an enormous success and has been hugely helpful in getting the message out to homes across Northern Ireland. We are delighted to be able to say that we have now reached £1.5 Million and are very confident that the remainder of the money will be in place by early 2013. We would not be in this position without the help of the management and staff of Tayto, who embraced this project from the start. A huge thank you to everyone involved.”

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