Hospital mascot Will features in children's mural

Clare Backlund-Leale, chair of Ernie's Angels charity, with Will and Alice Wary, the ED's team lead

A playful mascot is taking centre stage in a new mural brightening up the children's bay in the Emergency Department of the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.

The mural shows Will the teddy bear exploring the Bailiwick of Guernsey and enjoying a variety of fun activities, said the hospital.

The character has previously been seen in the nine-bed children's ward but its use has been extended in the project funded by charities, including the main sponsor Ernie's Angels which donated £5,000.

Under the project children who are treated in the Emergency Department will also be given a Will teddy bear to take home.

An interactive touch screen display designed to make the area more attractive to children has also been installed.

Ernie's Angels was set up in memory of 12-year-old Ernie Backlund-Leale to offer financial help to families with sick children.

The charity's chair Clare Backlund-Leale said she had already seen the "positive impact" the Will character had on children and families who visited the children's ward.

Artist Sammy Giovinazzi, from GIO Creative Works, said the character featured "in a variety of different fun scenarios on the walls".

He said the colours were also picked as "not too overpowering or stimulating" for patients who may be stressed.

Nell Farmer, the Emergency Department's acting ward manager, said there was evidence of the "positive impact" surroundings can have on health wellbeing.

She said: "We want our patients to feel as calm as possible while they are with us so the warmer environment that the design work has created is incredibly valuable to both staff and patients who work in the emergency department."