Media release
February 5, 2013
Jupiters staff donate fish tank to children's ward at Townsville Hospital
THERE'S something fishy about the latest addition to the children’s ward at the Townsville Hospital…and it is already proving a huge hit with young patients.
It has long been recognised that watching fish calmly swimming about their business helps reduce stress levels and soothe sick children, and this has certainly been the case in recent weeks since a giant 1.8m long fish tank has taken pride of place in the play area of the children’s ward, filled with a stunning array of tropical fish and plants.
The magical underwater kingdom was made possible through the generosity of staff at Jupiters Townsville, which raised close to $11,000 through staff contributions, donating the proceeds to the Townsville Hospital Foundation.
The Townsville Hospital Foundation contacted talented local aquarium expert Mike Baumann at Amazon Aquariums, who designed and created the giant fish tank, complete with polished timber stand and cleverly carved underwater-themed designs, children’s characters and the Jupiters logo, as well as stocking all the fish and plants.
Jupiters staff donations committee member Shirley Tustain, who has been one of the leading drivers behind the fundraising drive, said nearly $11,000 was raised through fortnightly staff barbecues and raffles, with the committee choosing the Townsville Hospital Foundation to be the beneficiary of their 2012 funds.
And it is not only the children’s ward which is set to benefit from Jupiters’ donation…as well as covering the costs of creating, installing and stocking the fish tank, Ms Tustain said their donation would also purchase iPads for speech therapy patients, as well as digital NMES simulators for patients in the rehabilitation ward.
“We have always liked supporting charities that help children out, and we also like to know that the money that we fundraise helps people locally, so the Townsville Hospital Foundation’s children’s ward was an obvious choice for us,” Ms Tustain said.
“We managed to fundraise enough money through the committee’s fortnightly team barbecues to not only purchase the fish tank for the children’s ward, but also the additional items that will benefit patients in other areas also, which is just fantastic.
“We hope that the children who are going through such difficult times in their lives can enjoy the fish tank and be able to take their minds off the pain they are going through, even if it is just for a few minutes.’’
The Townsville Hospital Foundation - the volunteer and fundraising arm of the Townsville Hospital – is dedicated to filling the gap between the funding provided by Queensland Health, and the money needed for specialist medical equipment and extra patient services.
Foundation general manager Meredith Elley said the ability to provide such extra patient services was only made possible through the donations of generous local companies such as Jupiters, and encouraged other North Queensland businesses to support the 100 per cent local non-profit organisation.
People wanting to donate to or help the Townsville Hospital Foundation can call (07) 4433 1337, visit
www.thfoundation.org.au, or like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TownsvilleHospitalFoundation.