Youngsters attending the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust in Truro will soon be able to benefit from a partnership between the Trust, the Friends of RCH and local artist John Dyer.

Following a donation from the Friends of the Royal Cornwall Hospital, three colourful art panels of John Dyer’s work have been put on display in the Family Room in the Oral Surgery Department. It is hoped the panels will inspire youngsters to create their own pictures and in the process distract them from their hospital visit.

The panels were donated along with a flat screen TV and wall bracket following a request from Oral Surgery Nurse Di Collins.

Over 17,000 people go use the Oral Surgery Department at the hospital each year and a large proportion are youngsters.

As well as providing the artwork for the panels, John has also pledged the 15% referral fee from any orders from his webpage www.johndyergallery.co.uk/rcht to hospital charitable funds to enable more art tools including paper and pens to be purchased.

John said: “Looking at art work really helps you to keep calm and relaxed if you are in an anxious situation. If you can get children drawing it can help them take their minds off it and children know this work and they can all do it. This gives them a view of the world that’s already interpreted for them. It’s do-able for them.”

Beatrice Dyer, chairman of the Friends, said: “This is an example of how work by the Friends can get the ball rolling. If people buy anything via the webpage then the money from that can go towards buying more materials. The Friends are now able to move on to another area.”

Anyone interested in raising funds while doing their Christmas shopping can do so by logging on to:

www.johndyergallery.co.uk/rcht