Starlight Awards

Celebrating our Starlight Health Play Awards 2026 runners-up

From helping children cope with vital treatment to supporting the next generation of health play specialists, our four runners-up show the skill, creativity and compassion that put play at the heart of children’s healthcare. 

This Play in Healthcare Week (5–9 October), we’re celebrating the outstanding individuals and teams recognised in the Starlight Health Play Awards 2026. 

Alongside our winners, this year’s runners-up have been recognised for helping children feel safer, calmer and more in control, championing play in everyday care and sharing their expertise with others. 

Gail Manning – Mentor of the Year runner-up 

Gail Manning has been recognised for her dedication to supporting a student health play specialists and helping her grow in confidence. 

During seven years at Northwick Park Hospital, part of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, Gail helped develop play provision and supported children and young people receiving inpatient, outpatient and day-patient care. 

She was nominated by Emergency Department Play Practitioner Jalpa Gohil, whom she supported for two years during her training. As well as generously sharing her knowledge, Gail gave Jalpa space to talk through difficult experiences, encouraged further training and helped her connect with other health play professionals. 

Jalpa said: “Gail’s dedication to the children and families she supported was inspiring and her commitment to developing the next generation of health play specialists was incredible.” 

Gail, who recently left her role at the trust, said: “There is so much personal satisfaction in seeing your mentee blossom.

"Mentoring a student play specialist was incredibly rewarding and gave me the opportunity to share my passion, experience and knowledge of the role."

Her award recognises a contribution that reaches beyond the children she supported directly, through the skills and confidence she helped others develop. 

Kathryn Shaw – Protector of Play 
runner-up 

Kathryn Shaw, Paediatric Outpatient Sister at Morriston Hospital, Swansea Bay University Health Board, has been recognised for a career spent using play to reduce children’s fear and anxiety around healthcare. 

The Protector of Play award celebrates NHS colleagues who are not health play professionals themselves but champion the use of play in children’s care. 

Kathryn’s work includes piloting a specialist clinic for children with additional needs, helping to make an often daunting procedure more manageable. 

The clinic offers longer appointments, conversations with families in advance through telephone calls, desensitisation and personalised social stories to prepare children for what will happen.

Staff also aim to find out about a child’s individual interests and use these to make procedures less frightening. For one young Formula One fan, the team turned having a blood test into a race, with each part of the appointment becoming a stage on the track and a “pit stop” built in if the child needed time to pause. The approach helped the child successfully have their blood test. 

Her recognition highlights the difference nursing colleagues can make by championing play and finding ways to respond to children’s individual needs. 

She said: “Children's needs are changing – we're getting a lot more children with neurodiversity coming through – so we're looking at ways we can support them within the environments we've have."

Amanda Williamson – Health Play Specialist of the Year runner-up 

Amanda Williamson, a Health Play Specialist based primarily at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, NHS Fife, has been recognised for helping children with complex needs cope with medical treatment. 

Among the children Amanda has supported was an autistic boy with a complex health condition who was extremely fearful of a blood test. 

Discovering his love of football, Amanda drew on her own experience as a football coach to build trust over several months of regular sessions. She also involved his coach, who helped explain that professional footballers have health checks and blood tests too. 

After an initial attempt proved too distressing, Amanda continued working with the boy until she felt he was ready. With Amanda and his coach alongside him, talking about football to keep him engaged, he was able to complete the blood test. His mum cried with happiness and hugged Amanda.  

Amanda said: “It’s one of many examples I could give, across different ages and procedures, of what building trust and using the right distraction technique can do.” 

Her work shows how taking time to understand a child’s interests and build a relationship can help them access the care they need. 

Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital – Health Play Team of the Year runner-up 

The Therapeutic and Specialised Play Service at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, has been recognised for helping children cope with everything from blood tests and scans to surgery and long hospital stays. 

Working across wards, departments and specialties, the team uses preparation, distraction and therapeutic play to help children understand their care and have greater choice and control. They also create opportunities for fun, friendships and a sense of normality during hospital stays. 

Their work can give the wider clinical team valuable insights. In one case, playing Snap with a teenager recovering from a brain injury helped a health play specialist observe their concentration, hand-eye coordination and understanding, and share that information with colleagues. 

Susan Fairclough, Therapeutic and Specialised Play Service Manager, said: “The more choices you give children, while being honest about what needs to be done, the more in control it makes them feel and that helps them through it.” 

Thank you for putting play at the heart of care 

Together, our runners-up demonstrate the many ways play can improve children’s experiences of healthcare, from helping them prepare for treatment to nurturing the professionals who will support them in the future. 

Congratulations to Gail, Kathryn, Amanda and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital team, and thank you to everyone who nominated an outstanding colleague or service. 

We also thank our headline sponsor Ryman for supporting the Starlight Health Play Awards 2026.