26 April 2018

They are renowned for supporting emergency crews around the world – and now they will help The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) celebrate 70 years of the NHS.

The Rapid Relief Team (RRT) will be firing up their barbecues in the grounds of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on Saturday 7 July as part of SaTH’s annual community Charity Fun Day. And as a massive gesture, they will be donating their time and all the takings to the Trust’s Living with Dementia and End of Life Care appeals as well as covering all the expenses themselves.

The RRT offers quality catering assistance to charitable and government organisations confronting major challenges, including natural disasters, heart disease, cancer research and the plight of the homeless. On 7 July, they will be dishing up bangers and gourmet burgers for visitors to the fun day.

Sam Blackledge, Team Leader at the Shropshire branch of RRT, said: “We are absolutely delighted to support the Trust’s celebrations of the NHS’s anniversary and help raise much-needed funds for SaTH’s Living with Dementia and End of Life Care appeals.

“The RRT is a voluntary-run organisation for the support and compassion of local charities, so to have the opportunity to support such worthy local charities at an event that celebrates the 70th anniversary of the NHS is very exciting.”

Julia Clarke, Director of Corporate Governance at SaTH, said: “We are so grateful to the RRT for their support. They are a fantastic charitable organisation and we look forward to working with them on this exciting project.

“Our plans to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NHS are coming together very nicely, and we are very lucky to have the support of some fantastic businesses and organisations, like RRT.”

The NHS turns 70 on 5 July and SaTH will celebrate the anniversary with its specially-themed community fun day in the grounds of the Shropshire Conference Centre at the RSH on Saturday 7 July.

The celebratory event, which will include the unveiling of a specially commissioned sculpture made by the British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry and also feature a 5km charity fun run, will be divided into a number of zones: Foodie 40s, Fun 50s, Swinging 60s, Sensational 70s, Exercise 80s, Nature 90s, Magnificent Millennium and Future NHS.

Other confirmed attractions include: 202 Field Hospital, Bubble football, Inflatable Nerf Gun arena, Exotic Zoo, various live musicians and a bouncy castle. Many more attractions are still being finalised.

There will also be opportunities to visit the Lingen Davies Centre, hear about the work of our Clinical Trials team, Transforming Care team, support our  Dementia and End of Life Care teams, see our work on community involvement and NHS careers.  Other of our supporting charities will also be there along with some then-and-now equipment and photographs.  We will also have a display showing the history of SaTH from 1747, through the formation of the NHS in 1948, the merger of the two hospitals in 2003, up to the present day  and beyond

The Trust will also be bringing some of the above to their pitch at the annual Lions Show in Wellington on 8 July and Telford’s 50th celebrations on 15 July.