Children's allergy service celebrates 10th birthday
Posted on Thursday 9th June 2016
Children enjoying the party.
The children’s allergy service celebrated its 10th birthday with a special ‘allergy friendly’ party for patients and staff.
The allergy team invited patients past and present to enjoy an afternoon of music, games and tasty treats sourced with various allergies in mind.
The children’s allergy service is the largest of its kind in Europe, providing a complete service for children with allergic diseases. The team provide families with expert advice, diagnostic tests and practical help within a single visit to the clinic.
Dr Kate Swan, specialist registrar in children’s allergy, says: “Children’s allergies have become increasingly common over the last few decades. Vast amounts of children suffer from allergies such as food allergy, eczema and asthma and all of these can have a significant impact on their quality of life.
“We wanted to bring our patients and their families together for a party where the children could have fun without worrying about their allergies.”
The team helped to raise awareness of children’s allergies whilst celebrating their 10th birthday by inviting allergy charities to attend the event. The Anaphylaxis Campaign, National Eczema Society, Allergy UK and Action Against Allergy attended to talk to families and members of public passing through St Thomas’ Hospital.
Specials thank go to Starlight for providing party bags, Magical Quests for the entertainment (kindly funded by the Woolf Charitable Trust), Sainsbury’s for providing specialist cakes and biscuits, Oatly for providing oat milk cartons and the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity for funding the event.