SINGAPORE - In celebration of its 60th anniversary this year, Gleneagles Hospital has pledged to raise funds to help 60 beneficiaries of The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF) with $60 a month for one year, to cover their food and transport expenses.

The hospital, which is Singapore's first private hospital, also held a carnival on its premises on Sunday (June 30) where it hosted a number of the children and their family members.

In total, more than 500 people attended the fairy tale-themed carnival titled "Healthy Ever After".

They took part in a heritage walk, gained health tips from characters like White Rabbit and Humpty Dumpty at interactive game stations, and watched a play featuring fairy tale characters and their encounters with medical emergencies.

Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor was the guest of honour.

The hospital has pledged to raise at least $43,200 for the STSPMF, which was started in 2000 as a community project initiated by The Straits Times.

The charity provides pocket money to children from low-income families to help them through school.

Gleneagles Hospital said staff contributions in an ongoing fund-raising effort will be matched dollar-for-dollar and the hospital will top up any balance to reach the sum. Public donations collected during the carnival will be added to that sum.

Ms Hui Hwa Koh-Minjoot, the hospital's chief executive, said the carnival on Sunday was her first public event as CEO.

"It was here that I delivered my children... it is where my personal fairy tale of becoming a mother came true, not once, not twice, but three times.

"So I think it is totally apt that we have transformed the hospital into a fairy tale wonderland," she added.