Making Christmas Special 2018. From left to right – Victoria Cartwright, Jon Ashworth MP, Richard Imison, Gillian Imison
Jon Ashworth, Labour MP for Leicester South and Shadow Secretary of State for Health, paid a visit to Leicester Royal Infirmary in support of the ‘Making Christmas Special’ campaign.
‘Making Christmas Special’ is a collaborative campaign between Leicester’s Hospitals, Age UK Leicester Shire & Rutland and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT).
Every year, there are patients too ill to leave hospital and spend Christmas with their loved ones. This campaign encourages the local community to donate a small gift bag that will be distributed by hospital staff and volunteers to older patients on Christmas Day.
On Friday 30 November, Jon visited the Happy Times Café in Memory Lane, part of the new emergency floor specifically designed for older, frail patients. Memory Lane is adjacent to the Acute Frailty Unit (AFU) and opened earlier this year as part of phase two of the emergency floor.
Jon was met by Victoria Cartwright, matron at Leicester’s Hospitals, and members of the meaningful activities team. He was introduced to patient Richard and his wife Gillian, and presented a gift bag full of goodies to Richard.
Jon said: “Leicester’s Hospitals’ ‘Making Christmas Special’ is a fantastic initiative which I regularly support. It is so good seeing the community come together to help and support older patients who, sadly, will be too ill to leave hospital this Christmas.”
“I was pleased to donate a selection of gifts to Richard in the Happy Times Café.”
This campaign was a huge success last year, with local people donating 1500 bags of gifts ensuring that every single older patient received a gift on Christmas Day.
Anyone can contribute to this campaign by leaving presents at the main reception of any of the three hospitals in Leicester, or you can also take your gift to any Age UK Leicester Shire and Rutland shop or resource centre in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.