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Children to ride in luxury at Furness General Hospital

13 June 2019

Children staying as inpatients at Furness General Hospital can now enjoy the use of two top-of-the-range Radio-Flyer mini Tesla ride along cars to get to their appointments.

The luxury little cars valued at £630 each have kindly been donated to the hospital by Cumbrian based Chris Meldrum and his two sons Harry and Toby through a fund raising initiative led by Tesla Owners Group UK (TOGUK).

The cars are equipped with working headlights, horn, a fully functional MP3 sound system and a trunk to store their toys. They even have their own personalised number plates courtesy of Barrow based ‘Hotwire Graphics Ltd’.

Heidi Bowron, Charity & Membership Coordinator at Bay Hospitals Charity says;

“Bay Hospitals Charity are absolutely delighted with this extremely kind donation that will bring so much joy to Children staying as inpatients at Furness General Hospital. As a charity we can’t value enough generous contributions like this one form Chris and the Tesla Owners Group UK and they continue to make our hospitals such a great place to be cared at.”

Faye Bennett Theatre Matron at Furness General Hospital says;

“On behalf of the Childrens Ward and Theatres here at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust we would like to thank Chris, his sons and the Tesla Owners Group UK for bringing such a wonderful addition to our hospital. We can’t wait to see the children actually drive themselves from the Childrens Ward to Theatre and give them a well-deserved treat during their time in hospital.”

Chris Meldrum is a member of the Tesla Owners Group UK that works with the Christian Blandford Foundation. As well as receiving donations from other members of the group and working on numerous fund raising events, TOGUK has been supported by the Elon Musk Foundation and the manufacturer of the car – Radio Flyer.

Chris Meldrum says;

“Harry, Toby and I are truly delighted to be able to donate these two mini Tesla’s to University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust and we hope they bring much joy to the children staying as inpatients at Furness General Hospital and during a time which can sometimes be stressful for both the child and their families.

“To date our volunteers have raised over £30,000.00 and delivered over 160 Mini-Tesla cars to Children’s Hospices and Hospitals across the country and we are delighted that they have now reached Cumbria. We still have a waiting list for cars and will continue to raise funds at each and every opportunity for such a worthy cause. “