Making a difference in 2025

During the last year Rockinghorse has made it possible for thousands of children and families to get the extra support they need.

As your local children’s charity, Rockinghorse has supported thousands of children with 65 different projects during the last year.

From premature babies who need specialist equipment to breathe, to children managing cancer treatment. From teenagers struggling to control their mental health, to young people dealing with a long-term health diagnosis, our support has been there to help them all and so many more.

We work directly with healthcare professionals in specialist baby and children’s units across Sussex to make sure we deliver the right support, in the right way, to make a difference to the lives of so many.

Supporting wellbeing

During 2025 our amazing Wellbeing Service, funded by The Cullum Family Trust, has gone from strength to strength.

Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people going through painful medical procedures, spending a long time in hospital, or learning how to manage a new health diagnosis, the service has done a great deal in its first year.

Spending a long time in hospital can be really boring for children, especially if they are missing school or all the normal activities they enjoy. So, the Wellbeing Service created some great activity packs for children to enjoy.

Each pack contains something to make, like a stained-glass butterfly, or a rainbow wind chime, along with some techniques about how to manage their feelings and emotions whilst going through a challenging time.

Another great activity has been regular live music performances in the atrium area of the hospital outpatients’ department. These wonderful sessions have proved to be a real tonic for patients and staff alike, bringing some musical joy to the hospital.

And NHS staff have also been supported with some delicious free wellbeing lunches to help support their wellbeing and show our appreciation for all their hard work.

A world’s first

This year Rockinghorse, in conjunction with Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital and Brighton and Sussex Medical School, has continued to support the development of the world’s first clinic to treat childhood asthma using innovative precision medicine.

Being able to determine the genetic make-up of a child can reveal what medications won’t work for them, and crucially, the ones that will, meaning that each child has a better chance of receiving the most effective treatments for their condition.

From presenting research at conferences in London, Glasgow and India, to organising local events that help children and families learn about asthma and its impact, the team behind the clinic have been continuing to share information about their ground-breaking work so that more children and families can benefit from this transformative research. 

This is a great example of how working directly with doctors and medical staff within the NHS can help provide ground-breaking research and treatment that will improve clinical practice and improve access to treatment for generations to come.

A magical place for treatment

The Children’s Emergency Department at The Alex sees 30,000 young patients every year and is a busy, bustling department within the children’s hospital.

As the department has been running for nearly 20 years, some of the rooms within the department were in need of updating, especially in terms of how interactive sensory elements could be incorporated.

But after careful consultation with doctors and nurses in the department, we have been able to create two incredible sensory treatment spaces that use tech and innovation to transform care for children.

The rooms use innovative technology to provide immersive distractions for patients that help create a calm, relaxed atmosphere, especially important for children managing painful procedures or struggling with additional sensory needs.

Sensory space

And outside the hospital, the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital’s sensory garden has been transformed with a range of new sensory planting, trees, raised beds and new storage to accommodate outdoor toys and activities that hospital staff can access.

The space can now provide nature-based wellbeing activities for families spending time in hospital, as well as being a space where patients, families and staff can relax, enjoy fresh air and have fun.

Thank you

But absolutely none of this work, or any of the amazing projects delivered this year, would have happened without help from the local community.

Rockinghorse CEO Donna Holland said, “We want to say a huge thank you to all to all the local community groups, businesses, challenge participants and individuals who have taken so much of their time and effort to help support us this year.

“Without their support we simply wouldn’t have been able to develop or deliver any of these projects. So thank you for enabling us to continue our work, we couldn’t do it without you.”