On Thursday 10 February, Calamvale Community College’s Junior School held its annual Day Camp, a day where students from across the grades buddy up to complete a variety of hands-on, creative, active and most importantly FUN activities while raising money for a good cause.

This year, the theme was ‘Healthy Lifestyles’ and the school decided that the money raised would go to Radio Lollipop! Volunteer, Belinda Goode, is a teacher at the school and spoke about Radio Lollipop on parade, with Miss Lollipop joining her too! The students enjoyed learning about Radio Lollipop and LOVED meeting Miss Lollipop, with a few students even coming up and saying that they had been visited by Radio Lollipop when they were in hospital! Through a delicious sausage sizzle at lunch, the school managed to raise $1300 for Radio Lollipop, which certainly is a healthy start to Lollipop’s fundraising for the year!

The energetic Gold Coast Suns boys visited Radio Lollipop at the Gold Coast Hospital today. Their energy lit up our studio as they got straight into playing table tennis and even sat down and did some crafts!

The fun and games continued with the boys joining us Lollipoppers in the Macarena and a game of ‘Dunny Mummy’, where the kids wrapped one of the boys and one of our volunteers up in toilet paper like a mummy. The room was a buzz with laughter, chatting and music.

Our Radio Lollipop Volunteers were armed with bubble guns as the boys happily visited every child on the wards signing Gold Coast Suns hats on their way.

Thank you so much boys for visiting the kids at Radio Lollipop. It means so much to them and our Radio Lollipop Volunteers. We wish you all the best for the season ahead and hope you’ll come and visit us again soon.

Nandos on Park Street, Bristol have pledged ongoing support and fundraising for Bristol’s Radio Lollipop. Their community involvement scheme encourages workers to get involved with fundraising and volunteering with local charities. After reading about the work we do on the website, we were very excited to be chosen as their beneficiary. We have held meetings and are discussing the great ideas they have come up with to raise awareness and funds for the children in the Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital. We are very excited and grateful for their help and cant wait to announce the first upcoming event once the details are finalised!

Radio Lollipop has been supporting the charity Gogo Olive by buying knitted toys and prizes to give to the children at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

Gogo Olive is based in Zimbabwe and provides local women with the opportunity to use their craft skills to build a future for themselves and their families. The women knit the toy animals which are then sold on to others. Each item is completely handmade and therefore unique. For every animal Radio Lollipop Edinburgh has purchased a child in Zimbabwe has also received one of the animals or ‘Shamwari’ which means ‘friend’ in Shona, the main language spoken in Zimbabwe.

Many children at the Sick Kids hospital in Edinburgh have also received a Shamwari as a prize for taking part in a competition or game. They are being very well received as special presents for children in Edinburgh as well.

Pictured: A child in Zimbabwe with their Shamwari, provided due to Radio Lollipop’s support of Gogo Olive.