Birthday party in park shows NHS gratitude
AFUNDRAISING tea party helped say ‘thank you’ and celebrate the 73rd birthday of the NHS.
The Friends of Rhyddings Park in Oswaldtwistle, event – limited to 30 people by restrictions – on Monday, July 5, raised more than £150 for NHS charities.
The organisers overcame the challenges of
Covid management and the rain, thanks to a combination of gazebos and inside tables.
Visitors enjoyed a brew and afternoon tea of sandwiches and strawberry scones, with entertainment by singer Nicki
Lynch, an NHS rainbow raffle, and plant sales.
For Ann Warrington, who is chair of the Friends, and fellow organiser Teresa Lynch, the celebration was particularly poignant as they are both long-serving nurses.
Ann said it was “a real feelgood event” at the Coach House cafe hub and Kitchen Garden – especially coming after recent difficult times for everyone.
She said: “We heard chatter, laughter, chair dancing, singing along to Nicki Lynch’s amazing voice. It was wonderful.
“Lewis did a fantastic job moving, shifting, lifting, serving, chatting and plant selling.”
Teresa is a retired registered general nurse of more than 40 years’ experience, but has returned to the NHS as a vaccinator during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Ann is a registered mental health nurse in her 34th year of working full time for the NHS.
Reflecting on the past 16 months or so of the pandemic, Ann said: “It’s been tough. Every part of the NHS has been stretched and there’s been so many people that have been redeployed, and stepped up to the challenge.
“I work in the CCG and people have become more poorly because of mental health through the pandemic. While I haven’t been in the ICU there’s been an awful lot of people that have really suffered and been really damaged by Covid and by isolation, and having to stay at home for long periods of time.”
She told the Observer they wanted to hold the event because the NHS does an “incredible job”, in normal times – not just during the pandemic.
“They’re not perfect, but we are very lucky to have the NHS and to have the breadth of services that are still available to us,” added Ann.
“They’re always there in an emergency and in a crisis. It’s a good employer and it’s something to be proud of. There’s so much we expect from the NHS and what we get is a fairly phenomenal service. People might disagree with that, but overall we are incredibly lucky to have a fantastic health system.”
The Friends of Rhyddings Park are looking forward later in the summer to their third anniversary event following its lottery-funded revamp.