Two decorated windows in the Emergency Department of Weston General Hospital were unveiled today by the town’s MP, John Penrose.
The windows have had photographs of well-known Weston landmarks, such as the Pier and the Beach, and Steepholm Island, transposed onto them by specialist glass artist, Stuart Low, from Bristol.
The work has been jointly commissioned and funded by the Hospital League of Friends and Weston Area Health NHS Trust Charitable Funds* and marks one year since the newly-refurbished Emergency Department at the hospital first opened.
The League of Friends decided that the first window, in the main entrance to the building, should be a memorial to the memory and generosity of Miss Sybil Jackson-Barstow, who died in 1999 and left £3.6 million to them in her will.
The second window, in the relatives’ waiting room at the rear of the building, is a memorial to all the past chairmen of the League of Friends. (For names, see below)
The League of Friends have spent Miss Jackson-Barstow’s legacy over the past decade on improvements to the General Hospital, which would not have been possible with NHS funding alone.
For example, they have donated:
In addition of course the League of Friends constantly supply funding for smaller items of equipment throughout the hospital. In 2010, they bought 39 separate items, each costing up to £3,000.
John Penrose officially unveiled the windows in his capacity as President of the League of Friends.
He said: “I’m honoured to unveil these wonderful windows. They’re a wonderful tribute to Miss Jackson-Barstow, whose bequest has done so much to help our local hospital over many years, and to the brilliant hard work and commitment of the League of Friends as well.
“With any luck the views and scenes from around Weston-super-Mare will cheer up everybody visiting the hospital, and make the staff even more proud of the town where they live and work as well.”
Weston Area Health NHS Trust Chairman Chris Creswick said: “The Trust is deeply grateful to the League of Friends for its involvement in this project, and for all the other developments that it so generously supports.
“The windows symbolise our link to the community we serve and are a delightful and very appropriate testament to the deep and enduring relationship between the Trust and the League of Friends, which we hope to see continued for many years to come.”
Hospital League of Friends Chairman Mrs June Stephen said: “We were very pleased to be able to support this artistic project – both as a contribution to the Emergency Department, and as a permanent memorial to Miss Jackson-Barstow and to our past League of Friends Chairmen.
“The Hospital and the League of Friends have both benefitted considerably from Miss Jackson-Barstow’s generosity and from the selfless activities of our Chairmen, who were volunteers, as are we all, giving of our time and energies to support local patients.”
The artist Stuart Low is a graduate of Swansea school of art, and for the past ten years has focused his practice on commissioned projects for the public realm, including other NHS Trusts.
He said: “I am very pleased with both installations. They function in a positive way, look clean, smart and considered, and enliven the spaces with colour and local interest. “
For further information please contact Caroline Welch on 01934 647091