PLAY has taken on a new dimension for young patients at Airedale Hospital.

A charitable donation has provided a special standing frame for the child development centre at the Steeton site.

The frame includes a table section for toys, which means children can play as they are being supported to stand.

The donation, from the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation, also paid for a height-adjustable therapy bench to help youngsters develop their balance.

Among the first to try out the standing frame was Jacob Roadnight.

Jacob – who is two next month – is registered blind and has global development delay, which creates mobility issues.

His mum, Stacey, said: "With the standard frame he has at home he's nothing to play against, because there is no table, so he gets bored.

"With this one, he's got somewhere he can play independently for a lot longer and also it's at the right height so his sister Phoebe can play with him.

"The problem we have found is that because Jacob can't stand or sit independently he spends most of his time on his front, so they can't play together. This gives them the opportunity to do that.

"Now that we've tried this frame at the centre, we can get one at home.

"It means he can stand for about an hour, whereas at the moment we only get around 20 minutes and then he's fed up."

The donation came about after Bridget Thompson, principal paediatric physiotherapist at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, had visited her local branch of the Yorkshire Building Society and was asked if she knew of any charities which needed help.

She immediately thought of the centre, where she works.

"We are extremely grateful to the society's charitable foundation as we need this sort of equipment on a regular basis and these two pieces cost over £1,400," she said.

"We use it to assess the children so that they can then go to Bradford Airedale and Community equipment store and borrow it for their own home.

"It's necessary to carry out an assessment to ensure the equipment is right for the child."

The Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation is funded through the Small Change Big Difference scheme, which sees members donate pennies from the interest on their accounts.

Harriet Dewhirst, for the society, said: "We are very pleased to be supporting Airedale Hospital and helping children like Jacob.

"It's very important that as a mutual society we support causes in our community."