A celebrated fundraiser and endurance adventurer from Gloucester is launching a new charity aimed at tackling what he calls a “hidden crisis” facing children in hospital.
Jamie McDonald, 39 – widely known as Adventureman for his record-breaking feats – has created Ward Buddies, an organisation dedicated to ending emotional abandonment for young patients who find themselves alone on the ward.
The charity will provide trained “Buddies” to sit with and support children whose parents or carers cannot be by their bedside, offering companionship, reassurance and emotional care during hospital stays.
Mr McDonald, from Gloucester, spent much of his childhood in and out of hospital due to an immune deficiency and syringomyelia. He said he only later realised, through therapy, how deeply those long periods alone had affected him.
“No parent wants to leave their child alone in hospital, but sometimes work, distance or caring for other siblings makes it unavoidable,” he said.
“Doctors and nurses do their best, but they’re stretched thin. The result is children being left utterly alone in their hour of need. Ward Buddies bridges that gap.”
Medical specialists working with the charity – including paediatric doctors, nurses and a child psychologist – warn that children without visitors can become withdrawn, depressed and struggle both emotionally and physically to recover.
Following a successful six-month pilot at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Ward Buddies is now seeking donations and volunteers to roll the project out nationally.
At its core is a small professional team featuring a doctor, assistant psychologist and peer support worker, who will tailor emotional support to each child referred to the service.
Known for his extraordinary fundraising challenges, Mr McDonald plans to don his trademark Adventureman outfit again this December to raise money and awareness for the charity.
His past achievements include a Guinness World Record for the longest distance run on a treadmill in a week, a 5,500-mile run across the US, and a 210-marathon trek across Canada dressed as The Flash. He first came to prominence in 2012 after cycling 14,000 miles from Bangkok to Gloucester on a £50 bike.
Ward Buddies is now appealing for public support to reach isolated children across the UK.