SICK children needing MRI scans at hospital can try to relax by looking at murals of seaside scenes – thanks to World Cup winner Gordon Banks.

The football legend has used £1,200 from his In Safe Hands fund to commission Denstone-based artist Robert Tedaldi to come up with the murals to reassure children as they are anaesthetised.

In all, Gordon has raised £150,000 for sick children at the University Hospital of North

Staffordshire in 10 years.

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See more of the murals

Gordon said: "The murals are a good idea, because when the kids are sitting in these rooms before having a scan they can look very basic.

"These murals brighten the place up and if the kiddies are a little bit more relaxed being here, it is good if they have to come back if they have to have something more serious."

Gordon has raised the £150,000 through after-dinner speaking, charity auctions and other events.

Over the years, the cash has paid for a new children's play area and medical equipment.

The former Stoke keeper, who also takes children out for a fun day at Alton Towers once a year, started fund-raising when the wife of former City teammate Alan Bloor asked him to visit the children's ward.

Gordon said: "I was really taken aback.

"There were children with leukaemia and cancer and the nurses told me that some of the parents might not even have enough money for a gravestone.

"I thought if I couldn't help someone like that, I shouldn't really be here, so I started this charity."

Most children are anaesthetised ahead of an MRI scan because a patient needs to be totally still for up to 20 minutes.

Superintendent radiographer Bruce Jarvest said: "People think the murals are great and there has been very positive feedback.

"If kids have a good early experience in hospital, it means everything they go through in the future is easier."

Fifteen-year-old Ria Steele-Federici saw the murals as she attended the hospital's day theatre yesterday, although she was not anaesthetised.

Ria, who attends Holden Lane Sports College, said: "It's nice instead of just having plain walls and I think it will help calm the young ones down a bit." Mum Jill Steele, aged 36, from Hanley, added: "It's something nice for the kids to wake up to."

Charitable funds and appeals manager Steve Rushton said Gordon was a regular visitor to the hospital and always put a smile on patients' faces.

He said: "In Safe Hands is for children across the trust, so if the kids can come up with something they want then Gordon will always try to do it."

If you would like to donate to Gordon's In Safe Hands fund or give money to another part of the hospital's Charitable Fund, call 01782 554444 or email charity @uhns.nhs.uk

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