Last year Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust purchased four KIRA Karcher cleaning robots to assist our Facilities Team with keeping large indoor floor spaces clean, and work alongside members of staff who have received specialist training in order to program and operate these high-tech devices.
To make the robots look more interesting whilst cleaning entrance lobbies and other areas, the Trust’s Facilities team came up with the idea of asking patients from Leeds Children’s Hospital to design and name each of the robots with the winning designs printed onto the machines. In support of the competition, Karcher kindly donated a first prize of an XBOX console and Leeds Hospitals Charity donated Amazon vouchers for runners up.
The competition received over 30 entries from children aged 7 to 13 years and the panel of judges found it difficult to only pick three winners! The competition winner was nine year old Ruby Lodge who’s robots ‘Tidy Hidy’ and ‘Spick and Span Stan’ design’s won first prize. Second prize was won by nine year old Nellie Digings Woods and third prize by 13 year old Jessica Parnell.
The robots have now been wrapped in the winning children’s designs and were unveiled to the competition winners, their parents and the Trust’s Facilities team. One of the Trust’s Facilities Technicians, Freddie Ocampo is delighted to be working with the robots nick-named ’Tidy Hidy’ and ‘Spick and Span Stan’.
Freddie said: “The technology of KIRA is very good, it is user friendly and make’s my job a lot easier as I can do all my edges and behind doors while the robot does the main corridors. People often stop to watch it working and love to ask me questions about how it works. I really enjoy working with KIRA each day.”
Patients, visitors and staff have already given a warm welcome to the newly decorated robots.
