The funds donated by Pres Les to the Children’s Hospital Trust will be used towards upgrading the hospital’s B2 Medical Ward, which has not been upgraded since 1956 and where patients with chronic and infectious diseases are treated. Construction is scheduled to start in July and be completed by December.

“The support we have enjoyed from Pres Les has been invaluable over the years. Their ongoing support enables us to continue with our work of maintaining the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital as a centre of excellence,” said Jeneé Stamer, fundraising relationship manager of the Children's Hospital Trust.

Pres Les has been supporting the Children’s Hospital Trust since 2008, when the company donated towards the construction of a new Operating Theatre Complex at the hospital. In 2009 Pres Les donated another R35 000 towards the same project. In 2010 they donated R100 000 towards a Surgical Skills Training Centre and in 2011 they donated R100 000 towards the upgrade of the B1 Medical Ward.

According to Stamer, each of these donations were utilised towards critical and priority upgrades and buildings within the Hospital. “The Operating Theatre Complex provided the Hospital with eight state-of-the-art operating theatres, fully digitalised and on par with the best in the world. The construction of these theatres has allowed surgeons to acquire the most modern surgical techniques including endoscopic (minimally invasive) surgery. Following this, the hospital undertook to build the first-of-its-kind paediatric Surgical Skills Training Centre. This centre, opened in July 2011, is the first in Africa allowing surgeons and other medical professionals to receive training in endoscopic surgery right here in Cape Town. The benefits to patients receiving this type of surgery are numerous and significant.”

The upgrade of the B1 Medical Ward was another critical project undertaken by the Trust in partnership with the Western Cape Government: Health and has just been completed. Treating children with chronic illnesses and infectious diseases, the ward desperately required new facilities, new equipment and particularly isolation cubicles. The upgraded ward, which was officially opened on 19 June, now boasts several isolation cubicles, less patients per ward, separate ablution facilities for patients and staff as well as dedicated working areas for doctors and nurses.