Any hospital stay for a child can be frightening, anxious and traumatic – they are away from their home environment, families, school and friends, and that is as well as dealing with whatever illness, condition or accident has brought them to hospital in the first place.

The NHS, while it does a brilliant job, has to count the pennies like any other publicly-funded body, and once medical care and basic accommodation is provided, the budget doesn’t stretch much further.

So it is to the credit of Bradford’s hospitals that they have taken matters into their own hands with a new charity appeal which will make a difference to the lives of the thousands of babies, children and young people who have to undergo hospital treatment.

Some children have one-off stays in hospital, others must have repeated treatments that can last years, while yet more attend hospitals as day-case patients for a variety of conditions.

The new Bradford Hospitals Children’s Charity hopes to raise money by making these hospital visits much easier for local children – both by the addition of home comforts such as toys, games and play equipment, but also by buying new, state-of-the-art medical equipment which day-to-day NHS funding cannot encompass.

It is a highly commendable effort which kicks off with a coast-to-coast cycle ride by doctors, nurses and hospital staff, and it is to be hoped the momentum from this will gather pace and capture the public’s imagination.

This is a charitable enterprise which will make a real difference to local children and which we should all, if we can, pledge to support in some way, big or small.