Children and their families at Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People were visited by storytelling and performance duo Macastory as part of the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour on Friday (9 December).
Macastory shared songs and stories in an interactive event for the children in attendance. The tour is run by Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing, and sponsored by Scottish Friendly.
Alongside the event, children at the hospital and their families were gifted books by Scottish Book Trust to keep and enjoy. These were gifted as part of Scottish Book Trust’s Christmas appeal, which is fundraising to help gift and distribute books to families across Scotland during the festive period through food banks, hospitals, and other community spaces. Books bring comfort, joy, and escapism, and the initiative aims to bring the magic of books to families most in need this Christmas – especially in light of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour takes brilliant authors and illustrators to schools in all areas of Scotland for fully-funded events that hope to inspire a lifelong love of reading and writing in pupils.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: ‘We’re delighted to have been able to return to Edinburgh Children’s Hospital with the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour, this time for a fun-filled event with Macastory in time for Christmas.
‘Bringing the magic of stories and books to children in hospital is hugely important – books can provide comfort and pleasure as well as improve overall wellbeing. Alongside today’s event, we were glad to be able to gift books to children in hospital and their families thanks to the generous support of the public.’
Fiona O’Sullivan, Director of Children’s Wellbeing at Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “It was wonderful to welcome Macastory to the hospital for this fantastic event. Storytelling is so powerful; being transported to another time or place can be so beneficial for children when they are unwell.
“No one wants to be in hospital at any time, but at Christmas it can be especially hard, so we are enormously grateful to Macastory for bringing lots of fun and distraction to the wards and waiting areas.’
Macastory, comprising storytellers Ron Fairweather and Fergus McNicol, said before the event: ‘We are delighted to have been invited by the Scottish Book Trust to be involved in the Christmas programme at Edinburgh Children’s Hospital.
“It’s a great way for us to bring our Christmas storytelling to kids who otherwise might miss out on this type of fun at this time of year. So we’ve picked our favourite Christmas tales to bring to the kids, families and staff at the hospital and we can’t wait to create some Christmas cheer for everyone to enjoy!’