9 August 2018

Most people will have seen the unique NHS 70 sculpture situated outside the Ward Block at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), but what many won’t realise is the amount of work that went into getting it erected in time for our Charity Fun Day.

Pictured, from left, Peter Evans, Steve Darlington, Graham Rogers and Steve Wright (of Rexel UK).

The heart sculpture was built by the British Ironwork Centre, near Oswestry, using obsolete hospital equipment such as blood pressure monitors, parts of hospital beds, surgical hands, microscopes, a former anaesthetic machine, a broken dialysis machine and wheelchairs.

And when it arrived on site a week before the Fun Day, a team organised by Steve Darlington, Acting Head of Estates at RSH, worked around the clock to make sure it was not only up in time but looked fantastic for the big unveiling.

Graham Rogers, of J. Rogers and Sons, spent multiple days doing all of the ground works, while Peter Evans, of SRS Electricals, donated all of the electrical work free of charge so the sculpture can be lit up at night time. The electrical supplies were provided courtesy of Rexel UK.

The team met this week to see the sculpture in all its glory, saying: “It was a pleasure to help with this project. The NHS is a fantastic organisation that we are all extremely grateful for. It was a lot of hard work but the sculpture looks amazing.”