A FORMER member of staff at Warrington Hospital has played Santa after delivering his annual toy donation to its youngest patients. 

Chris Todd worked as a security management specialist at Warrington Hospital for 10 years before retiring. The 70-year-old from Great Sankey, with his fellow Freemasons, has donated thousands of teddies to poorly children at the hospital over the years. 

And he has returned every year since retiring to personally hand over the toys he has bought.

Chris said: “Outside of work, my interest is in the Maritime Volunteer Service and I’m also a Warrington Freemason.

“My wife sends all the Christmas cards to her friends and our family and so instead of sending cards to my friends in the MVS and Freemasons, I like to do something useful – such as buy toys for the kiddies. I have been doing it for quite a few years now.

“We used to buy them all from Mothercare so my supply is drying up.

“I decided on the neonatal unit this year, other years we have donated to the children’s ward and A&E.

“I’m old fashioned and remember when the unit was known as SCBU – the special care baby unit.  “With my job in the security team it meant we didn’t visit this ward often but we occasionally did have some fun and get to pop up.

“It is a special time for the children with it being Christmas, especially youngsters who are needing that little bit extra attention that the neonatal unit provides.  “So I thought it would be a good idea for the teddy bears to go to the neonatal ward this year.  “There is a feel-good factor doing something like this, it is definitely worth the work.”

Youngsters are able to take the bears home with them after their treatment, with more than 100,000 poorly children having been helped.

With room for 18 little ones on the ward, Warrington Hospital is currently caring for four babies who are born from 27 weeks onwards or weighing as little as 750g.

Youngsters at Bewsey Lodge Primary School also help the ward each year with their handmade donations.

The Lodge Lane school’s knitting club have been knitting cardigans, blankets and hats for babies on the neonatal unit.

Despite many knitted items being donated to the hospital, the majority cannot be used for premature babies as they do no pass infection control requirements.

Two years ago Erica Wiles, a nurse at Warrington Hospital, introduced knitted octopuses on to the neo-natal unit to help calm premature babies.

The project found that they were comforted by the feeling of the umbilical cord and when they were born, the tentacles of the octopus created the same sensation.

The toys are either crocheted or knitted but have to be created with specific yarn.