Each week the Play Therapists at John Hunter Children's Hospital use some 30 packets of Play-Doh with patients during their admission to hospital.

For many families, Play-Doh is a fun product used over and over again.  It's an enjoyable activity that many kids experience when growing up.

At John Hunter Children's Hospital patients also enjoy the Play-Doh experience, however due to infection control the Play-Doh can only be used once.

Using this amount of Play-Doh every day, week and year is a considerable expense, although a worthy one, as Play-Doh is a powerful tool used in Play Therapy.

Allison Blake witnessed the power of Play Therapy first hand with her then 8-month-old daughter Haylee, who was admitted to the Children's Hospital with a rare blood disorder known as Methemoglobinemia.

"Veronica (Play Therapist) humbled me with the way that she treated my daughter, with the same amount of compassion and care that she was also showing other kids," Mrs Blake said.

"When we left hospital I felt that I wanted to do something. I asked Veronica what she would like and she said 'Play-Doh'.

"She showed me that all she had at the time was a tiny little packet of plasticine for all of the kids. These kids are so sick and if all they ask is for some Play-Doh to play with then that's what I'll get them," said Mrs Blake.

Using her daughter's illness as motivation, Allison set up a Facebook group called 'Let's get Playdoh donated to Children's Oncology Ward at John Hunter Children's Hospital'.

"I figured if I felt this way about wanting to help, then other people would also, so I created the Facebook page to create awareness and show that things, however simple, can have such a huge effect," Mrs Blake said.

It certainly has had a huge effect with Allison's page boasting close to 1000 members (987), with many contributing Play-Doh donations and some using their own initiative and starting fundraisers.

Allison has been donating a steady stream of Play-Doh to the Children's Hospital during visits from Muswellbrook with her daughter Haylee. In the past month Allison has received a wave of support from Hasbro, the makers of Play-Doh, and a Newcastle parenting website 'Alphabet Street'.

"I sent a letter to Hasbro a few months ago outlining what had happened with Haylee and how Veronica had helped us while we were in hospital. A few weeks ago Hasbro called while I was grocery shopping to tell me that they had decided to donate $600 worth of Play-Doh," Mrs Blake said.

Penny Price, who runs parenting website Alphabet Street, stumbled across Allison's Facebook page a few months ago and realised a business that focuses on children like Alphabet Street could certainly help Allison's cause.

The 'Alphabet Street Mums' Nights Out' (movie night) was organised to assist in raising much needed funds for the Play Program in the Children's Oncology Ward for additional toys," Mrs Price said.

"The event sold out in a matter of weeks and we asked all ticket holders to bring a tub of Play-Doh as their own personal donation to the cause. We raised $2400 from ticket sales and a raffle, and estimate that over $1000 worth of Play-Doh was donated on the night," Mrs Price said.

For Allison Blake this is only the beginning, she is now receiving donations of colouring-in books and textas. Allison hopes that her cause makes the public aware of how beneficial these items, and the Play Program, are at John Hunter Children's Hospital.

"I would like the public to know that at any given time there are sick kids, some very sick, who are sitting in hospital beds using Play-Doh as a way to escape the awful realities they face each day," Mrs Blake said.

Allison, her daughter Haylee and Alphabet Street's Penny Price will visit the John Hunter Children's Hospital on Wednesday 23 June, 2010 at 10am to donate over $1500 in Play-Doh and a cheque for $2400.

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Media inquiries:
Lucas Coleman - 02 4921 3844,  0407 895101  (ref HNE-2298)