Rugby’s Danny Cipriani Opens Children’s Rehabilitation Centre

On Friday 8th August Sale Sharks’ Danny Cipriani opened our newly enhances rehabilitation centre.

Thanks to a generous donation of £40,000 from the Wooden Spoon Charity, the hospitals' Lime Arts team were able to redesign the physiotherapy gymnasium and associated treatment rooms in Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

The artwork features a wide range of animals showing off their sporting skills, for example, a penguin on a surfboard and an elephant on a trampoline. All of the designs have been worked through with patients and physiotherapy staff, to help engage the children in physiotherapy tasks in a more colourful stimulating way. Some of the artworks are magnetic with animals that children can move - there are also wordplay and floor games.

Whilst at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Danny took the chance to meet patients receiving treatment. 13 year old Mohammed from Hulme was receiving physio after a recent operation on his foot when he met Danny,

Mohammed said:

“I came in today expecting a normal physio session so it was an amazing surprise to get to meet Danny!  I hurt my foot playing football and Danny chatted to me about when he injured himself playing rugby.  It was great to meet him.”

Wooden Spoon is the children’s charity of rugby and has been making a difference to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people since 1983. Supported by volunteer committees and their fundraising ideas, they make sure that all the money raised stays in the local community to fund local projects.

Wooden Spoon is one of the largest funders of respite and medical treatment centres, sensory enhancement therapeutic facilities, specialist playgrounds, sports activity areas, and community-based programmes in the UK.

Mark Fearn, Chairman of the Wooden Spoon Manchester and Cheshire region said:

”This has been my first Wooden Spoon Project and it has been an absolute delight to work with the hospital and meeting the children who had an input into the design work.

The art work looks fabulous and I am sure it will make the children’s visit to the rehabilitation centre that much more pleasant.

I would like to say a big thank you to Tanya Hamid and her team at the hospital, for working with Wooden Spoon to make this happen.”

Check out pictures from the day in our gallery.