Amy Russell

WEBVTT
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Everybody welcome to control all compete Today were joined by
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Amy Russell from Edinburgh children Hospital Charity.
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Hello, are good, Thanks? How are you?
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Are you going to refer to as what from now on.
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EHD just for a's it's a bit of a tongue twister.
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Yeah, absolutely, I know I had to get that right.
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I said I wasn't gonna get a T shirt back.
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How are you today? You're right, I am good.
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Thanks, Thank you for having me.
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Yeah.
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I think I was going to start by letting you
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say that I've been to the Children's hospital before. My
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wee boy got group about two years ago and we
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stayed in for two weeks and I got to stay
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in one of the rooms.
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Yeah.
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So I realized then that there's like xboxes and that. Yeah,
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I didn't play any but I've senior had your rooms
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as well, so I was kind of a ware the
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use guys were using gaming for Yeah for good.
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Can you tell me a little bit more about like what
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your role is at the hospital. Yeah.
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So we're the Edward Children's Hospital Charity, so we work
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in conjunction with the NHS at the Royal Hospital for
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Children and Young People. We're one of the main charities
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in the hospital we funded quite a bit when we moved.
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So obviously this is the hospital that you're referring to,
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is the new hospital. We had moved there in twenty
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twenty one from the old hospital it was sane, So
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it's a bit of a move, but also night and
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day kind of in terms of what it looks like
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and everything that we can provide in it.
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Its look great.
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I mean you realize our place for care and people
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spend a long time there. Absolutely, the hospital it does
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look really nice. Yeah, outside as well, very communial people
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can meet.
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Yeah, it's so no, it's it's perfect. It was, yeah,
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the best decision. But as as a charity, we're there
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to support the children and young people and their families
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that come through the door every day. So every day
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we see about five hundred people come through the door
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and where there were friendly face to kind of hold
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their hand as they enter their hospital journey, whether that's
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just a brief visit or for a long stay as well.
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It's what some of the gaming initiatives have done then.
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Yeah, so in the hospital game is quite big for us.
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I mean everyone is great. Don't get a started on
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in our double on the wards or it gets quite
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it's this little card game and it's kind of like
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snap but there's images and it's really nice and we
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so I'm a fundraiser for the charity, but this is
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our wellbeing team that run this on a daily basis
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and our volunteers, they're honestly incredible. So they go up
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onto the wards and they interact with children and young people.
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They'll play games, whether that is kind of board games
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or if we get the Xbox or the PlayStation's out,
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and it's kind of for children young people in hospital.
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It's a form of escapism and distracting so slow. Yeah, absolutely,
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and it's something that children young people do on the
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outside world, so absolutely, so that's kind of what we
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do on the wards. We also hold a games group
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which on Friday night, and we do a gaming hub
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as well where children young people can come down off
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the ward come to our hub. Our hub is a
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safe space within the hospital which is a non clinical
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space and in there we have big kind of projector screens.
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So Mario Karr is the go to at the moment
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that there's tournaments on the goal all the time and
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that's a really lovely one for families set. We have
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a sofa and they can sit on the sofa and
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play games and it's something that you do when you're
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at home. And then we also one of our other
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big things that we have is VR, so our virtual.
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Reality and what games they play on that.
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So I'm not sure what games they play. There's always
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the usual, the roller coasters or I tried it for
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I had to stop. I honestly was about to get
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I felt like motion sick. But for us, we use
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it kind of like I said, with games as a
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form of escapism. So we actually had a young person
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who was visiting us from overseas. They were here for
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treatment and they got really homesick. It was a few
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months into their stay. So we took the virtual reality
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to them and we went on Google Earth and took
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them smack backs. Yeah, so we took them back home,
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so they visited their home for a little while. They
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could see their school, they could see their house, and
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that was really lovely. We also have a Space Academy program.
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So it does sound a bit random, but within the
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hospital we have isolation rooms and we farmd through research
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that children who are in isolation actually go through similar
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experiences as astronauts do in training. So we've teamed up
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with NASA.
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And so when you say the isolations, that meaning how
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they feel in the war of friends or when their
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families aren't visiting.
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No, no, it's dree medically, so they can't interact with
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other people. So whether that's their contagious or they have
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to be kept separate, but it can be quite lonely
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and isolating.
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So obviously if we absolutely and that's one of the
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big things that we've discovered in the hospital is loneliness
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and isolation.
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So that's yeah, that's where we come in. So when
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a child first goes into isolation, they enter their Space
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Academy program, so it's hosted by Tim Peak, the Astronaut
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and NASA, and.
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It's really cool.
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There's lots of steps to become an astronaut and they
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get the virtual reality headsets. So they got up into space,
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they go to the International Space Station, and then when
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they leave isolation, they're an astronaut.
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That's so cool.
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Yeah, so you think, then, obviously, what happened before, what
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did hospitals do before to combat that or do we
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just like get on with it there It was under
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just a case of that is what it is suddenly,
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and we were aware of when gaming started to become
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you know, you know a lot more in hospitals.
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Yeah.
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Absolutely.
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I think it's more of a recent more recently that
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you're kind of seeing it more in the news and
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the articles I know done in Cornwall there's recently there's
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been a game designed to come back and of loneliness.
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And they hired somebody.
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They have Yep, they have someone that goes on the
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wards and plays games and like I say, it's distraction.
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It's what children, young people do kind of on the outside.
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So just that little bit of normal say for them.
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You wonder if there was any pushback initially with us
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and then now they're actually starting to see the benefits
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and how much that even helps the doctors because you
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can imagine maybe some families or when they're coming home
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they're sad. That puts pressure, I suppose, yeah, even though
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they know that there's a certain time period to get them.
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Yeah, absolutely want to go.
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I know we actually do find that now that we're
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in the new hospital and the work that we do,
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Like children are happy to come to their appointments, getting
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up to go, and that's kind of in our outpatients.
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In the new hospital, we have augmented reality, so that's
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kind of integrated throughout the whole codspace. So if anyone
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ever visits, there's little screens so they can make some
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of the wall art come alive. There's like a dragon
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that breathes fire. We always got a lot of siblings
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that force their sister to stand in the path of
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the dragon.
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Obviously, is that in that room that you're talking about.
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Yeah, that's in that room. But on the wards there's
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kind of they have screens by their bedsides. And then
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like I say, we're up on a daily basis and
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our youth team and our wellbeing teamor always up to
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kind of play games and do it for the young
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person wants to do it.
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And you're finding like this is evolving all the time
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where you're talking to their hospitals or you just having
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your own ideas or as like the hospitals talk to
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each other about what's working.
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Yeah, not necessarily in terms of gaming on the wards.
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In terms of our fundraising elements, our gaming competitions that
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we do definitely is so popular and it raises so
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much for charities for us, it's one of our biggest
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fundraising events our gaming compety.
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So yeah, do you have you got a figure of
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how much you ray so far?
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Yes?
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So in hopefully soon we'll have just passed three hundred
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thousand pounds mark. And we've been running our gaming marathons
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since two thousand and nine, so that was quite early on.
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I think over the past few years you've seen a
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lot of charities entering gaming competitions or gaming marathons, but
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we've been going since two thousand and nine, so we
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have a really lovely strong community of gamers behind us.
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And so do you have people that are obviously influencers
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that dedicate some of their time towards it, is that the.
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Way you work, Yeah, kind of not necessarily influencers. We've
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never really had any influencers kind of involved in it.
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We'll have kind of some people that have a strong
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following on Twitch who will do it for us, but
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it's usually families or people that have a connection to
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the hospital. We kind of say, everyone has a sick
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kid story, and for us we have, yet we have
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such a strong community behind us, which is so lovely
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could do it with that.
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And it's true because even when he's got in touch
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the garden phase. We talk about that. We got mentioned.
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I was like, oh, it'd be great to have you
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guys on obviously, because you know, we had that experience
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with Jackson at the hospital, so you can always have
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that because you're very much you know, Jackson got rush
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fat initially to the Kakadi one. His chest was like
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going right in and it was the scariest time in
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our lives. And then we went and then he's gotten
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better and he was in a coma and you're just
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at the mercy of these amazing doctors body that's helping
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you and everyone.
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You know, they couldn't be nicier.
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No, everyone there is incredible, and that's there like for
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us as well. That's why it's so important for us
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to be within the hospital because we're not just there
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for the children, young people who are patients. We're also
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there for the families, the siblings.
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The caf you've got, Yeah.
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There's the cafe.
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We've got a little shop which is on the ground
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floor as well, which is fab We have our hubspace.
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We do complementary therapy so parents can come and get
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a massage.
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Or I've never seen that one.
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If you ever visit. No, it's they're fantastic.
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And then our hub service as well, it's home away
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from home and the team there. We're there to listen
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to your worries and hold your hand as you enter
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your hospital journey.
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I mean you see going strength and strength. Where can
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you see it evolve into it? Is there any chats
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about where the gamer can go to or do you
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know you always look out for new technology like.
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Yeah, absolutely, we're always looking at new ways to develop it,
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especially us doing our gaming groups. We have to kind
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of make sure that we've got the games that the
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children and young people. I think right now it's I'm
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going to probably embarrass myself with.
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Roadblocks. Yeah that's the big one. Yeah, I know. So, yeah,
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I need to I need to get better at NOMA games.
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So you can now take about one hundred thousand of
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that money and put it into roadblocks kids can spend.
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Yeah, that's the thing.
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That's the next thing.
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But no, and then there's other ways as well that
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we use kind of gaming and technology and within the hospital.
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So we do just dance as well, which actually is
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a really good way for children young people to do
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some physio exercises, build confidence and then are gaming.
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It doesn't mean if you tried it, yeah, well it
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doesn't really help the.
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Confidence probably well maybe you get maybe not me either,
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But it's a good interactive one. And then with our
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gaming groups, so all children young people are welcome, and
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actually it's really lovely for them to come along play
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games and chat about what they've been through their experiences
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to other children, younger people that can relate, because it
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can be quite isolating if you've been through a hospital
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experience and knowing that maybe your friends having and they
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don't understand. So it's just a really nice way to
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build communities for sure.
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And so also I like to ask every when it
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comes on the podcast they are gaming yesterday was your
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top games?
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Yeah? I made it.
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I'm not the biggest gamer, but I have learned so much.
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But growing up, my big one was SIMS. I could
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spend hours just playing SIMS.
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So when depended you play that, oh gosh.
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I was like early on kind of high school, like
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first year, second year of high school. Me my friends
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would yeah, spend hours just creating these little sim worlds.
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But actually I.
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Can see why because even though that was maybe back
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then that was the most popular game for my generation.
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But it is a form of escapism and distraction and
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kind of a.
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Bad game either. For the kids. Got a lot of
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reading involved that.
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Yeah, building their homes when they're in hospital.
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Yeah, maybe they could build their hospitals. Yeah, I love that.
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Makeing notes.
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That just shows you that's why the game is so
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good because.
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Exactly exactly and what you're coming to Phase obviously, we've
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got Phase excited about what could people expect when they
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come and see you guys at Phase.
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We're hoping to bring the hospital into the Phase events.
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So we're going to showcase some of the gaming stuff
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that we do with children a young people. So we'll
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hopefully bring the VR and show Space Academy. So if
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anyone wants to get a taste of up into space,
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then yeah, they can come visit us. And then for
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us also just to spread the words. We were are
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still quite a small charity. So for us just to
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be able to spread the word and let everyone know
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about us and what we do.
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And what would you say, then maybe a small charity.
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What the challenges use guys face what do you think
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is the biggest challenges? Because everybody's fundraised and anybody it's
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a shame because the world means a lot, right, so
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absolutely against what's going to challenges use face to.
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Be honest, it is fundraising. Our supporters are just incredible,
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but obviously with the cost of living crisis, that does
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affect charities and we're very lucky that we're doors are
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still open and we can do everything we can and
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some charities are less fortunate than that. But it's just
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people known about us, spreading the word and yeah, being
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able to promoteus as much the I.
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Think what's good for you guys as well?
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Suppose as everyone can relate and you think the one
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he goes towards the kids, and it's quite an easy
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relation to Yeah, isn't it about it? You know, maybe
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the new headsets or VR or and do you talk
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about the gaming and stuff when you're doing your fundraising,
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Like is that a big thing that you just said,
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that's a big thing for you.
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Yeah, well that's one of the biggest for us. We
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run a gaming event in October. It's called Game Changers.
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It used to be called Safepoint, but this bafpoint safe point, right,
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I showing Yeah, I didn't actually know what safe point meant,
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but apparently it is a.
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Well it means you're playing a game. You could play
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Savior progress.
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Yes, so that's what it was called. But we had
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a few people who didn't understand why it was called Safepoint.
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And like I said, it was created back in two
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thousand and nine buy an incredible supporter. His name was
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Tom and he had just had a newborn. His daughter
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had just been born, and the thought of gaming for
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twenty four hours with a newborn same just out of
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this world. So he created this gaming event and since
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then it's just grown to be what it is today.
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We have incredible supporters that take part year after year,
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and I'm really proud to say that the past five
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years we've had our headline sponsor, Rockstar Games, involved and
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they've just been so incredible and we love everyone over there.
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So they match fund all donations up to twenty pounds,
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which to us is massive. So that's why each year
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we raised about forty kids. No no, yeah, no, no, no,
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we have to so not within the hospital. We obviously
329
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have our age restrictions for the games that we play,
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but for the gaming marathon you have to if you're
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over the age of eighteen, whatever games you want, but
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it's open. Our game Marthen is open to all ages,
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so we sometimes have teams take part, and then earlier
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on in the morning they have like the kids taken
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part in their online games, and then as it gets
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later and later, the.
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Parents take home they play online games as well.
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Like they so the kids can they still my big
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and the headset with some of their friends out at home.
340
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Yeah, they do.
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So we say that you can do it solo or
342
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gather your squad, and you can do it kind of wherever.
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You could do either six hours, twelve hours, or twenty
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four hours over the weekend. But we have a lot
345
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of people that will just camp out in the house,
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get all the snacks, and then just play continuously for
347
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twenty four hours. I've done it once and it was
348
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honestly harder playing games for twenty four hours than it
349
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was running at half Marthen.
350
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It's so hard.
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And I was going to say, like olviously, as a
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children hospital part, do any of the other the main
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hospital use gaming at all, because I can imagine like
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a forty five I play want to get involved if
355
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I was, Yeah, the main hospital looking at gaming as
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well a.
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Well, we promote it all over so we have yeah,
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people from all areas take part, which is incredible.
359
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So within the.
360
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Hospital we'll run our own. So last year we actually
361
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had a gaming van which was quite cool that came
362
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part up at the hospital, so children and young people
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had known about it previously. They got their friends to
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come visit them that day and they had their own
365
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little gaming party in the gaming van, which was so cool.
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And then yeah, we.
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Get kind of corporates taken part, friends, families. We have
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an incredible family who takes part with their friends called
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the Cheese Thieves. They've taken part for years. So there's
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just such a good, strong community behind it.
371
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And can you tell me any more like good stories
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where you think gaming really helped? Does anything bring a
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belty like any good you don't have to name any names,
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but is there any families you think, yeah, gaming really
375
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did help them or help that kid.
376
00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:47.720
Yeah, to be honest, a lot within the hospitals.
377
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So like I say, with our gaming group that we
378
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do and for children and young people to come, it's
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just that little bit of normality for them. And then
380
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also we're not restricted areas, so sometimes they can bring
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their friends along and we can have their own little
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gaming party, which is really sweet and also just being
383
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able to have that freedom of playing games like up
384
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on the wards with our staff. It just helps break
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those barriers. You have an equal ground when you're playing games.
386
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So it's just so lovely And yeah, you actually don't
387
00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.000
realize how much you actually use gaming within the hospital,
388
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but no, it's so nice.
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And do you think then see the doctors and nurses.
390
00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.160
I mean obviously the not saying there's a disconnect between
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00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.400
doctors and nurses and the patients, but do you think
392
00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:38.279
have you ever seen, like any nurseries, any of the
393
00:18:38.359 --> 00:18:39.960
nurses or doctors even playing the game.
394
00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:42.559
And it's because that could probably help build a poor And.
395
00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:44.480
No, absolutely, we always.
396
00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.359
Imagine sometimes if you're in the hospital, suddenly the surgeon
397
00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:49.559
will come around with his group, Yeah, come and say
398
00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:51.599
there a bit, don't they and then your way and yeah,
399
00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:54.079
so that that can be quite a disconnect. Imagine gaming
400
00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:56.759
could probably help a bit more at ease.
401
00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:59.319
Absolutely, it's used all the time so on every ward
402
00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:01.559
in the hospital. They have their playrooms and they have
403
00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:04.160
incredible play specialists who are there and.
404
00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:07.480
Special to get that job.
405
00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:09.359
I know, I'm like, I go off on the words.
406
00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:11.720
I sometimes have to stop myself because I get quite distracted,
407
00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:14.319
like just joining in with what's going on somebody else?
408
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.559
Yeah, literally, or where did Amy? We've got in soon
409
00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:19.039
and I'm there up in one of the wards.
410
00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:23.039
But they constantly they're playing games with children and young people,
411
00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:25.960
whether it is ranging from board games for like some
412
00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:31.319
of the younger ones, to playing like the Xbox or PlayStation. Yeah,
413
00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:34.160
you have to stop yourself from getting quite competitive.
414
00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:36.079
And it could probably help as well. Like language barriers.
415
00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.440
Yeah, I can imagine maybe people from overseas, maybe that
416
00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:41.200
the young kids potentially don't maybe not speaking English, but
417
00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:43.480
the gaming can help break that barrier. Or yeah, sitt
418
00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:45.039
and play a game when other kid they don't have
419
00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:46.039
to speak.
420
00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:48.960
Absolutely, exactly absolutely Obviously, this.
421
00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:52.519
Is a book, so I don't know if it is
422
00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:54.039
a real story, but I don't know if you've ever
423
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heard of the book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. It's
424
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an incredible book, but it was based on two friends
425
00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.680
who got into the game and industry. But they had
426
00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:07.440
met previously in a children's hospital and one of them
427
00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:11.640
was at that time nonverbal, and they interacted and became
428
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friends through playing games. So it's it's honestly, it's an
429
00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:19.000
incredible book, So I would give that a read, but
430
00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:20.160
that justist.
431
00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:22.240
No, it was just.
432
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:26.440
Through kind of trauma in the book, but through that
433
00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:29.319
and then interacting and playing games that I won't give
434
00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:31.480
a lot away because I don't do any spoilers. You
435
00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:34.880
should go, But in it they kind of played games
436
00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:37.359
and they kind of became a little bit more friendly
437
00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:41.119
and flarendlier. And then they re met six years later
438
00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:45.240
when they were at university, both going into being gaming developers.
439
00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:47.839
So it's a really nice book, but it kind of
440
00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:52.839
just showcases how universal gaming is, especially within the hospital.
441
00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:55.440
And if you had your read Amy, what would you
442
00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:57.640
have for the next part of the game, And would
443
00:20:57.680 --> 00:20:59.400
you have like a what would you like to see
444
00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:01.000
more of in the hospitals?
445
00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:02.519
What kind of thing you're struggling for, What would you
446
00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:03.359
like to see more money on?
447
00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:07.200
For you to choose, Yeah, to be fair, it would
448
00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:10.279
just probably be more kind of consoles and being able
449
00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:14.160
to cater to more children young people. Obviously right now
450
00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:17.240
we only have a few, but the hospital is massive.
451
00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.519
And then yeah, and.
452
00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:22.839
If anybody wants to help us, were watching the podcast,
453
00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:23.759
how can they get in.
454
00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:26.039
That, Well, they can have a little look at our website,
455
00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:29.759
which is a h charity and on there that kind
456
00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:31.480
of tells you a little bit more about us and
457
00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:34.000
the work with Weeder within the hospital. And then also
458
00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:38.160
ways that you can get involved, and obviously one of
459
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.920
the biggest would be taking part in our Game Changers
460
00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:45.279
event in October. It's free to sign up and you
461
00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:48.240
just have to fundraise and play games for twenty four hours.
462
00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.200
And so what advice do you give people are doing
463
00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:52.880
the twenty four hour one? Then drink plenty fluids. Yeah,
464
00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:55.160
I have like they've got to write.
465
00:21:55.480 --> 00:21:56.279
I don't have a discient.
466
00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:59.039
I have like little teas and cs like how we
467
00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:02.279
can help you in there? Do you take regular breaks
468
00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:05.279
step away from the screen, because looking at a screen
469
00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:07.720
for twenty four hours it can be a lot lots
470
00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:10.160
of snacks and we do think get some healthy snacks
471
00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:13.400
in there, stretcher legs. But just have fun and also
472
00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:16.279
remember why you're taking on such a mighty challenge.
473
00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:18.000
I love that weekend.
474
00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:20.960
I'm there on like Twitch like commenting on everyone's live streams,
475
00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:24.319
so we have so much fun. We have a discord
476
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:27.519
as well, so everyone can kind of chat. Yeah, so
477
00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.599
everyone can chat to each other on it as well.
478
00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:32.680
And it's so lovely because people like, oh, I'm playing
479
00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:34.119
this game, but I'm stuck on this level.
480
00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:37.200
Has anyone got any advice? So it's just a really
481
00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:37.960
nice It's.
482
00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:39.839
So good to have a community that's actually got a purposes.
483
00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:43.119
Yeah, not just like a corporate you know, community, a community,
484
00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:43.759
it's got a purpose.
485
00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:44.759
Yeah.
486
00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:46.799
And then people from all over the world as well.
487
00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:49.119
We've got one supporter it takes part year after year
488
00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:53.920
from Canada. So it's just so nice that it's spread
489
00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:54.759
just across the world.
490
00:22:55.720 --> 00:22:59.920
Well, that's amy. That was be fantastic having on. Thank you, thankye.
491
00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:01.200
They can't wait to see you phase.
492
00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:03.240
Yes, can't wait. Thank you so much.
493
00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:06.000
You said October. Of what dates is it for the event?
494
00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:08.160
It's the first weekend in October.
495
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:09.559
Right, Okay, and you can just go to the website
496
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to find out with that.
497
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.480
Yeah, all the infos on the website. Okay, amazing, Thank
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you so much. Thank you,