Friends group celebrates 70 years of helping hospital

A FRIENDS group celebrated its 70th anniversary in the market place in Henley on Saturday.

The league of Friends of Townlands Hospital held a three-hour public celebration from noon.

The organisation was founded in 1955 and began to try and raise funds to provide equipment for patients in the Henley hospitals.

A break-off group of committee members formed an informal events committee to organise the event. This included Jilly Carter, Dr Noel Snell, Dr Peter Ashby and Louise Hastings.

Residents could enter a raffle for £2 to win prizes, including a Space NK goodie bag, a £70 Magoos voucher and six crystal glasses.

A tombola included gifts such as a Simpsons 1,000-piece jigsaw, Haribos and cuddly toys.

Children’s entertainer, Bertie Slippers, performed magic tricks with small foam red balls and created inflatable balloon swords. Food included Neapolitan pizza and ice cream, supplied by the Scoop Room in Duke Street on a trailer.

Ms Hastings, who joined the committee more than a year ago, said: “We met on a regular basis to decide what we wanted to do, where we wanted to do it and decided to get on with it because it’s the 70th anniversary.”

Dr Snell, a Henley Rowing Club member who has been rowing for more than 60 years, came up with the idea for an ergo.

He said: “The hospital has had its ups and downs but I think the league of friends has been pretty constant throughout.

“So many of these charities have people who are actually interested, and luckily, some of us are old enough so that we have spare time to get things done.

“These last few months, we have been concentrating on this event. As of next year, we will be looking at more projects and bits of equipment to buy. It’s nice to get not too expensive things but things that still make a big difference.”

Steph Greenwood, the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust Townlands service manager, said: “As a trust, we appreciate everything that the Friends of Townlands Memorial Hospital has done for us.

“It has enabled us to see more patients, and we have been able to provide different clinics because we have the equipment to allow the patients to be seen closer to home.”