MORE than half a century of community support have helped make the Friarage a very special hospital, Rishi Sunak has said.
Just before cutting the cake to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Friends of the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, Mr Sunak paid tribute to the work of an organisation which has raised more than £5.5m for the hospital.
He was joined by his predecessor as Richmond MP, Lord William Hague, and Baroness Angela Harris of Richmond in celebrating the milestone at a party in the hospital’s boardroom.
Mr Sunak said: “It is quite something that an organisation that started out as an idea dreamed up around someone’s kitchen table should raise so much money and engage the local community in such a positive way over so many years.”
He praised the Friends for the £500,000 they had raised most recently for the new MRI scanner at the hospital.
“There are lots of good things happening at the Friarage at the moment and the Friends are involved in so many of them,” he added.
Lord Hague echoed Mr Sunak’s remarks and said that in his 26 years as the area’s MP he had only heard good things about the hospital and the Friends had been vital to its success.
The chairman of the Friends, Dr Upendra Somasundram, said further events would also be held during the year to mark the anniversary.
The event was attended by the mayors of Northallerton, Richmond and Bedale and longstanding local supporters of the Friends, including Charles Barker of Barkers of Northallerton and George and Greta Crow, owners of the Golden Lion, Northallerton and other local businesses.
The Friends’ story began back in 1953 when a committee was formed to obtain funds for a nurses’ recreation room – known as the Northallerton Hospitals Nurses Recreation Fund Committee.
That facility opened on January 12, 1957, and once the committee had been wound up it was agreed that a “League of Friends” should be formed - and their first annual general meeting took place the following year – in June 1958.
The name was changed to the Friends of the Friarage – and its stated aim at the time was to “support the work of the Northallerton hospitals by means of voluntary assistance.”
Since then they have gone on to raise more than £5m for the hospital and the local community.
Their contributions have ranged from major donations, such as paying for buildings and equipment - including a CT scanner - to providing smaller items for the wards, all of which have made a huge difference to patients and staff over the last 60 years.