Keeping Ayrshire's Children Safe At Home

Learn how we're helping Ayrshire families to keep their children safe at home during the pandemic

Crosshouse Children's Fund is proud to have granted over £5,500 to support the wonderful work of NHSAAA's Health Visiting and Family Nurse Partnership teams, funding 200 Stair Gates to keep Ayrshire's children safe at home.

The Health Visiting team provides professional care, support and advice to promote health and wellbeing for children up to the age of 5, and they work alongside the Family Nurse Partnership team who care for first-time young mothers to develop their parenting capacity and support them in making positive choices for their families.

With an increased amount of time being spent at home during the pandemic and home becoming the main environment for learning, socialising and play, the number of accidents taking place in the household have increased. This makes the need for safety equipment like Safety Gates even more important, but unfortunately many families simply don't have the means to purchases these. 

Last year, over 2,500 paediatric attendances at Crosshouse's Emergency Department arrived as a result of accidents incuding falls, limb and head injuries. 

By equipping families with the tools they need to keep their children safe at home, we can help to reducing the risk of preventable harm by accidental injury resulting in hospital admissions.

"The Stair Gates funded by Crosshouse Children's Fund will help families put the advice we give them around safety into practice in their own homes.
There has been an increased pressure on family's finances through the pandemic, so equipment like Stair Gates are often unaffordable for some. The Stair Gates will help to limit the number of accidents that could take place in the home, and will also support the mental wellbeing of parents who often experience stress, stigma and guilt when they simply don't have the means to purchase safety equipment like this."

Sina Currie, Senior Nurse Manager-Children’s Services East Ayrshire