Playscape: Wellington Regional Children’s Hospital’s Outdoor Therapeutic Space

Wellington Regional Children’s Hospital, established in 1912, is New Zealand’s first children’s hospital. This hospital treats children from newborn to 18 years old and is one of the five hospitals in the country that perform specialist pediatric surgery.  Its surgical services go beyond Wellington, treating children from significant portions of the North and South Island.

Unfortunately, the hospital building was over 30 years old and desperately due for an upgrade. Cramped spaces, outdated clinical areas, no dedicated family spaces and very few isolation facilities caused the building to struggle to keep up with its growing demand. Lions clubs in District 202-M have always supported the Wellington Regional Children’s Hospital and helped with the fundraising for a similar facility at the old hospital about 30 years ago. When plans for a new children’s hospital with an outdoor rehabilitation and therapeutic facility were announced, Lions did not hesitate to show support and help raise funds. Led by District 202-M Lions, this ambitious initiative drew support from across the region, including from the Lloyd Morgan Lions Clubs Charitable Trust and Lions from Districts 202-D and 202-E, making up more than 95 clubs, who rallied behind the cause as well. Lions raised US$500,000 in just 12 months. To further their efforts, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) also provided a US$100,000 Matching Grant.

The design of the new Wellington Regional Children’s Hospital included Te Wao Nui’s stunning new Lions-funded Playscape. This outdoor rehabilitation and therapeutic facility has brought joy, movement and healing to the overall hospital environment. Currently, the facility provides a wide range of therapeutic, rehabilitative and developmental benefits to all young patients such as increasing physical activity, assisting with both fine and gross motor skills and cognitive development.

Playscape is both play space and a sunny north-facing outdoor area for families who need an escape from hospital life. It also has an alternative therapeutic space, with various equipment and split levels offering mobility, agility and balance challenges for children who need extra support to reach physiotherapy goals or child development milestones. The hospital’s Child Development Service,  which provides specialized care for children with physical and intellectual disabilities or developmental delays, also uses this space to help children thrive.

LCIF’s Matching Grants provide funding to help establish or expand Lions-initiated humanitarian service projects that address critical and diverse human and social needs around the globe. Learn more about how Matching Grants are changing lives worldwide.