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League of Friends 57th Year of Helping to Care

The local charity for local people, Torbay Hospital League of Friends, recently held their 57^th AGM at the TREC Lecture Theatre at Torbay Hospital.

The meeting was chaired by League of Friends Chairperson, Mrs Lynne Hookings, and was well attended by members of the League’s Executive Committee, members and officials of the outlying 9 districts of the Torbay League, together with Torbay Hospital representatives.

League of Friends Treasurer Christine Piper presented the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2010. It was reported that the League had raised £373,000 by way of legacies, membership donations and fundraising activities during the previous 12 month period, and had donated gifts to the Hospital to the value of £374,000 over this same period.

Mrs Lynne Hooking, Chairperson, paid tribute to all League members for their incredible efforts and support in raising valuable funds, and commented on how the first year of her appointment as chairperson had literally flown by.

She expressed how fortunate the League had been to have been selected by Sainsburys Torquay as their chosen Charity of the year, and working together they had staged many events – car boot sales, bag packs, sponsored cycle rides, a Santa Saunter, and in March a Fashion Show in the Torquay store café which had been cleverly adapted to host the evening.

A further development which she was delighted to bring to the attention of the meeting was the formation of a Junior League which had been “regenerated” at Torquay Girls Grammar School. At present there are 7 Year 11 Students on this junior committee. They have started fundraising activities and have many great events planned for this year, one being a sports event. She said it is very much hoped that the junior league will continue to expand

out to other local senior schools and that more and more youngsters will become involved, helping to care for their community.

A delightful and enlightening presentation on the Da Vinci Robot System was also on the Agenda at the AGM.

Torbay Hospital’s Consultants, Philip Reece, ENT Surgeon and Nick Kenefick, Colorectal Surgeon delivered a fascinating, insightful and memorable presentation, assisted by slides, on this £1.5m cutting edge purchase donated to the Hospital by the League.

The Robot affectionately known as “Fred” by the specialists was named after former League of Friends President, Fred Payne who died in November 2009.

The surgeons’ presentation illustrated how well the theatre staff had adopted this new technology and in particular the remarkable dexterity with which this system was capable of and the astounding advance in the enhanced recovery programme to the benefit of all patients.

The hospital is now hopeful of spreading the use of the robot to other specialities, which will make Torbay Hospital stand out among the few centres using robot assisted surgery.

With the matters of the AGM nearing conclusion, the League fundraising events for the next three months were announced.

Cream Teas and Cake Tasting at The Anchorage Hotel, Babbacombe and a car boot sale at Sainsburys will be the order of the month of May.

June 15^th heralds the return of the League’s attendance at the annual Babbacombe Fayre on the Downs.

The biggest and most prestigious fundraising event of the year for the League - “Party at the Palace” Garden Fayre is being hosted again at the Palace Hotel, Torquay on Sunday 3 July with West Country television and radio personality Judi Spiers opening the event.

The meeting concluded with the acknowledgement of the constant and dedicated work of the 120 volunteers who willingly donate their time to work with the League of Friends within the hospital and continue to do a fabulous job either in the coffee shop, the kiosk, taking the trolley around the various clinics waiting areas or acting as guides for visitors.

The meeting also marked the presentation of the first of the League of Friends “Certificate of Appreciation”.

A certificate was presented to retiring volunteer, Mrs Maureen Connelly, to express gratitude for her valued service to the League over the years.

Maureen was given a rapturous round of applause from all present.

For your information:

The League of Friends is a registered charity formed in 1954. “It is a local charity for local people”. Over the course of the last 57 years the charity has raised through extensive fundraising events, memberships and legacies a staggering £12 million to improve the quality of healthcare, equipment and buildings at Torbay Hospital.

High tech breast screening service comes to Torbay

Thousands of women living across South Devon will benefit from a brand new digital breast screening system - thanks to a huge three quarter of a million pound donation from Torbay Hospital’s League of Friends.

Breast screening is presently offered on a three yearly basis to women aged between

50 and 70. Mammograms are a proven method for identifying early changes to the breast, including small pre-invasive cancers. Finding changes at this stage is crucial as it often means less complicated treatment and a better prognosis for the patient.

The donation from the League of Friends will mean Torbay Hospital will be able to move from its current film based screening service to much more sophisticated and proficient digital imaging. The investment will include a new static mammographic unit, which will be based at on the hospital site, as well a new mobile unit that will travel across the south of Devon, annually offering breast screening to approximately 14,000 women.

Dr Rebecca Green, Consultant Radiologist at Torbay Hospital, explained: “We are very excited about this huge donation from the League of Friends, which is going to reap a number of significant benefits for both patients and health professionals. Digital imaging for mammography is proven to be better at spotting early signs of breast cancer in dense glandular breasts, which are often seen in younger women. Other advantages include shorter screening times, much more detailed images that are easier to read, as well as speedier results. This is particularly important as the number of women being invited for screening will soon be extended to 47-73 years, which means our screen service will be better equipped to undertake the additional mammograms that we will be routinely offering to a wider age range of women.”
Lynne Hookings, Chairman of Torbay’s League of Friends, said: “Health experts tell us that breast cancer is treatable, but the key to a better prognosis is to catch it as early as possible. The League of Friends is delighted to fund a new digital screening service as we know that many thousands of women across South Devon, along with their health professionals, will benefit from the best and most sophisticated equipment and technology available.”
Paula Vasco-Knight, Chief Executive of South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “This is fantastic news for our patients. The Trust is already one of the highest performing screening units in the South West, which consistently sees us exceeding our targets, so this investment will build and strengthen the excellent healthcare that we presently offer. On behalf of the Trust, and the people of south Devon, I would like to thank the League of Friends for their very generous donation.”
The new digital breast screening service will be in place at Torbay Hospital from the summer.

Breast care patients across South Devon to benefit from League of Friends’ donation

South Devon patients undergoing breast surgery at Torbay Hospital will spend less time in the operating theatre thanks to a £40,000 donation from the League of Friends to purchase a digital specimen radiology system.

Right: Lynne Hookings, Chairman of Torbay Hospital’s League of Friends,

and Consultant Peter Donnelly at the official handover of the digital

specimen radiology system, which was also attended by members of the League and staff from the Breast Care Unit.

Click picture for larger image.

“A Piece of Cake”

Sampling a wide-ranging selection of speciality beautifully presented home made cakes and sharing

of their recipes were the order of the day at the Anchorage Hotel, Babbacombe.

The cream tea and cake tasting afternoon was offered by volunteers in a fun and informative way to raise money for Torbay Hospital League of Friends.

Around fifty people attended throughout the afternoon raising £237 for League funds. Summer Draw Tickets for the League’s Annual Garden Party were also on sale.

Julia Hearne of the League of Friends said “It was a very pleasant and successful afternoon indeed, everyone who came seemed to really enjoy it. It also had the added benefit of raising monies for the League of Friends.”

“A Stitch in Time”

A group of dedicated “Linen League” volunteers are pulling out all the stops to create 26 giant canopies in time for the Torbay Hospital League of Friends’ Garden Party at the Palace Hotel, Torquay on Sunday 3 July.

The regular, enthusiastic and committed 12 volunteers meet every Tuesday afternoon in the hospital’s Board Room with their faithful sewing machines to design, cut and sew the 9ft x 43” canopies required for the League’s Biggest Annual fundraising event.

In addition to creating the canopies the group are also busy making up children’s clothes, aprons, shopping bags, lunch bags and other items to sell on the day.

The “Linen League” is headed by Rachel Evans, an ex-Home Economics and Textiles Teacher and Deputy Head of Stover School. Rachel has given 20 years voluntary service to the League of Friends Linen League. Many of the other volunteers add their own special talent and areas of expertise to the group pool, leading from backgrounds in soft furnishing, quilting and needlework to upholstering.

The Linen League was formed at the Old Torbay Hospital in Higher Union Street during the First World War. The Doctors’ wives at this time decided to get together for the sake of the war effort to repair the sheets needed for the hospital, hence the name “Linen League”.

The Linen League is constantly active today in providing regular items and furnishings for the hospital’s ongoing requirements, including nurses’ tabards for Louisa Cary Children's Ward, theatre gowns for children, bags to encase tubes, trolley covers, equipment covers, drug pouches, tabards for medicine rounds, bibs for children in John Parkes and Louisa Cary wards, soft furnishings for Intensive Care Unit and various units around the hospital.

Chairperson of the League of Friends, Mrs Lynne Hookings, said of the Linen League’s endeavours “Rachel and her team of excellent seamstresses make the most wonderful items for the staff, the wards and most importantly the patients of Torbay Hospital. They play a very valuable role in supporting the Hospital and we are all very grateful to them.