Patients at children’s hospitals cross the north and north-east will have the chance to ride rollercoasters, go fishing, and even explore other planets from their hospital bed thanks to a generous donation of Oculus Virtual Reality Headsets.

The Orion Group, who have offices in Inverness and Aberdeen, have donated six VR headsets to The ARCHIE Foundation to be used at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, the Highland Children’s Unit and Tayside Children’s Hospital.

Eight-year-old Alfie was the first official tester of the headsets when Duncan Murray, IT Director of Orion Group and Managing Director of OCCMS, dropped them off.

Duncan commented: “Orion Group and OCCMS are always committed to using the latest technologies across our businesses.

“We’re strong early adopters of Virtual Reality technology, and we’re keen to show the benefits of VR outside of our industry, to let people visit places, learn visually, and have experiences which they otherwise couldn’t manage.

“The group has a strong connection with local charities across the North and we’re very pleased to be able to donate these headsets to hospitals in Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness through The ARCHIE Foundation.”

Cassie Thompson, Director of Partnerships at The ARCHIE Foundation, said: “We are extremely grateful to Orion and OCCMS for their wonderful donation of Oculus headsets to the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, the Highland Children’s Unit and Tayside Children’s Hospital.

“We know that play can have incredible benefits for children in hospital, from distracting them during treatment to helping them with their recovery. These headsets will help support that by providing a fun and interactive distraction for patients.

“One of The ARCHIE Foundation’s aims is to make hospitals child-friendly space which patients are not afraid to visit, and we know these headsets from Orion will help us towards achieving that.”