In 1997 we funded the formation of a Family Support Centre and Chapel in the heart of the hospital. This provided facilities for the family Support team who look after many of the needs of the parents and siblings when a child comes to hospital. The Chapel, now known as the Sanctuary, is constantly visited by parents and staff seeking a quiet place for peaceful thoughts away from the busy wards.

The Sick Kids Friends Foundation bought the first CT Scanner at the hospital in 1999. Its purchase, costing £250,000 meant that children could receive scans at the hospital rather than being transported to the adult provision at the Western General or the Royal Infirmary.

Our Millenium gift to the hospital in Jnauary 2001 was to provide a new Gamma Camera, costing £400,000 replacing the old single-headed camera with a brand new double-headed version. This allows for much quicker examinations and less manoevering of the equipment.

Every night many parents stay at the hospital so that they can be on hand for their wee ones should they wake. In 2003 we spent over £200,000 to convert the old loft area of the hospital to provide PJ's Loft - bedrooms, shower and sitting room facilities for the parents who sleep beside their children in the wards.

Keyhole surgery is better for children when possible as it reduces scarring, reduces post operative pain and recovery is faster. But it entails many pieces of equipment to be arranged in the operating theatre. In 2004 at a cost of £400,000, we purchased our OR1 Operating Theatre System which controls all the equipment though computer systems and ensures that the surgeons always have the best view of the procedure and can alter any of the equipment at the touch of a button. This system allows real-time recording and so is particularly useful for training and consultation purposes. Our theatre has linked with many others around the world to help train surgeons of the future.

In 2006 we set up our unique Drop In Centre with assistance from the Wooden Spoon Society. The Centre provides information, advice, support, complementary therapies and activities for children in the hospital or at home with long term conditions and their families. You can find out more about this project at its dedicated website www.sickkidsdropin.org In the evenings children from the wards come to the Centre where they are cared for by staff and volunteers and take part in activities such as computer games, arts and crafts or movie nights. The nurses tell us that patients sleep so much better when they have been to the Centre in the evenings and parents tell us that the centre and our staff there are a godsend!

Technology moves on at a fast pace and by 2006 it was felt that the scanner which we had bought 7 years previously was now becoming old and was far from up to date in comparison with more modern models. Having been persuaded that a newer model would scan images so much faster thus reducing the amount of time and anesthetic required for such examinations it was clear that a new scanner would really benefit the children, making their experience of these investigations much less distressing. A very generous family agreed to fund this purchase and the Sick Kids Friends Foundation funded decoration of the area in partnership with NHS Lothian who funded a new MRI Scanner to provide a state of the art department.

In 2009 we provided a new Play area in the Paediatric Outpatients department at St John's hospital in Livingston.

Refurbishment in Ward 2 at the hospital to provide age appropriate areas for all our cancer and leukaemia patients.

Providing Laryngyscopes, Facial Nerve monitor, nerve blockade and other specialist equipment at the hospital.