Thanks to the Good Friday Appeal, The Royal Children’s Hospital will significantly expand its hospital-wide art therapy program, allowing more children and families to access this essential emotional and therapeutic support during their hospital journey.

Art therapy provides children and young people facing illness with a safe and supportive way to express and process their emotions through creativity and artmaking. For many patients, putting feelings into words can be difficult. Art therapy offers an alternative pathway for communication, helping children explore their experiences, reduce anxiety, and cope with the emotional challenges of illness and hospitalisation.

This specialised therapy plays a vital role in paediatric healthcare settings. Evidence shows art therapy can reduce anxiety, depression, pain and distress, while improving mood and overall quality of life. By supporting emotional wellbeing alongside medical care, art therapy helps children feel more in control, comforted and engaged throughout treatment.

At the hospital, art therapy is currently offered in select areas, supporting children facing serious illnesses, including cancer. However, the need for this service extends far beyond these settings. Many children and young people – including those with a wide range of illnesses, disabilities, experiences of trauma, and life-limiting conditions – could benefit from access to therapeutic creative support.

Through the Good Friday Appeal’s investment, the art therapy program will nearly double in size, employing additional art therapists who will work across the hospital to ensure more equitable access to care. This expansion has the potential to support around 3,000 children and young people each year, allowing more families to receive meaningful emotional support alongside medical treatment.

By embedding art therapy more broadly across the hospital, patients will gain greater access to coping strategies, emotional relief and opportunities for self-expression during challenging times. This expansion strengthens the hospital’s commitment to caring for the whole child – recognising that healing involves emotional wellbeing as well as physical recovery.

Through creativity, connection and compassionate care, the expanded art therapy program helps children build resilience, maintain wellbeing and find moments of comfort during their hospital experience.