Special guests Ron Thomson, Sharon Roberton and James Gibson of Thomson Gray visited Radio Lollipop Edinburgh recently. The firm of Construction Consultants have been supporting the charity for a number of years, and are this year’s major sponsor of the Radio Lollipop Edinburgh Ball.

Radio Lollipop Volunteers (Dougie Robertson, Graham Barr and Wendy Fleming) presented Ron Thomson with a special certificate to thank him and the firm for all of his support as Ron is retiring from the company.

The Radio Lollipop Ball is the Edinburgh stations most successful fundraising event having raised £52,000 for the charity over 5 years. This year’s Ball is being held on Friday 5th October at the Roxburghe hotel, Charlotte Square. More details will be announced soon! If you would like to support the Radio Lollipop Ball please contact Graham Barr – graham.barr@radiolollipop.org

Our annual Radio Lollipop volunteer meeting was a hit! Held at the Mater Hospital for both Mater, Logan and Gold Coast Hospitals, it was great to come together and learn from one another.

We heard from one of our fantastic board members – Bruce Sullivan. Everyone that came along had to dress up and Bruce chose a beautiful feather boa and some fairy wings! He talked about how to be our best self’s to promote Radio Lollipop in what we do on the wards, while fundraising and on the radio! It was a great opportunity to mingle with other volunteers all the while being encouraged to go out and put on a great show each shift!

Can’t wait till next time!

McKenzie Comer isn’t your typical teenage girl. The young singer is just 15 but doesn’t spend her spare time hanging out at the mall with friends like you’d expect a normal teen to be doing. She
spends her time singing to sick children in hospital, writing songs, recording music and has toured America twice singing. She sings at a number of fundraising events for different charities throughout the Gold Coast.

McKenzie began her recent visit to the Radio Lollipop Studio by singing a beautiful cover of Safe and Sound – the theme song from the new film The Hunger Games. The younger kids painted with their parents as they listened. The older kids and their parents were in awe as the young singer hit every note perfectly and filled the studio with lovely sounds. Her second song You Do That To Me was one she wrote herself and has just been produced into a professional video clip filmed in just one day in Byron Bay. The third song Butterfly Fly Away by Miley Cyrus was even more beautiful as she dedicated it to a young boy on the ward, Brook. He seemed quite shy at the beginning but soon realised there was nothing to be afraid of and started singing along even though he’d never heard the song before. It was a very special moment to watch. He was all smiles as McKenzie presented him with a RACQ Careflight Teddy Bear donated to Radio Lollipop.

McKenzie has been singing at Radio Lollipop for the kids for three years now and has helped out at many Radio Lollipop Events and on our annual Lollipop Day. The mature young girl realises what a difference she can make in the world by sharing her beautiful voice and using it to help others.

She is not only involved with Radio Lollipop but also volunteers her time and voice with Dreamworkers, which helps raise money for individuals and charities on the Gold Coast as well as Canteen, an organisation that helps people living with cancer.

The caring young McKenzie has achieved a lot in her 15 years and we’re looking forward to her bringing even more smiles to the children and community of Gold Coast and beyond.

The annual Radio Lollipop training weekend was held in London this year. We sent some of our top volunteers (Lolly, Pop, Candy and Floss) along with the Management team to help plan for our future.

Whilst there, Pop even got to do a little bit of sightseeing. If you see him on the wards, don’t forget to ask him what he got up to, as we are sure that he would love to tell you!