The League Of Friends Of Ludlow Hospital (Charity No. 513978) is a membership organisation which exists to improve the care and comfort of our patients by providing items of equipment and services that may not be readily available from the NHS.
Following changes in policy at the hospital, The League no longer provides on-site volunteer services, such as a trolley shop. Our focus now is on wider community engagement. Members are kept up to date by regular newsletters which also informs on local NHS developments. Members’ views and opinions are regularly sampled and represented to appropriate NHS authorities.
Equipment at the hospital funded by LoF
In recent years The League has purchased electronic profiling beds and bedside furniture throughout the hospital, funded the purchase of dialysis equipment, ultrasound scanning, ophthalmic equipment, public access defibrillators throughout Ludlow Town and equipped two First Responders – to a total value of almost £600,000.
What is the League of Friends?
The League of Friends of Ludlow Community Hospital is comprised of members of the general public, most of whom are local residents, who regularly donate into a fund managed by a Board of Trustees (see below) . Regular e-newsletters, as well as the news section of this website, keeps members informed of the League’s activities.
What are our aims?
Raising funds and supporting our town’s hospital (and some other carefully chosen organisations) to deliver the best of care to improve physical and mental wellbeing. Whether it be specialist equipment for scans and treatments to stop unnecessary and long journeys, additional facilities to improve ambience and patient/family support or outreach work such as our Dementia/Memory Loss Singalong events. Our remit is clear: we campaign for and help fund accessible and timely healthcare for our whole community.
How do we raise funding?
We maintain our fundraising efforts through the membership, with other donations and bequests and with additional events throughout the year, including our regular Quiz Nights and ever popular ‘Bed Push’ (although now without a bed). 2024’s Bed Push event was record breaking in the amount raised and shows the enthusiasm and support in town for both the event and our hospital.
What do we do with the funds we have raised?
Our mission is to help finance projects at the hospital that would provide or improve the delivery of timely and accessible community hospital facilities for our town which are beyond the reach of NHS funding. With the growth in both our local population and overall demand for NHS services, we have seen the number of possible improvement projects increase, so we are always looking to grow our membership
How we operate
The affairs of the League are managed by a small Executive Committee, whose members are also the Trustees. These appointments are subject to election from time to time at Annual General Meetings.
Our current objectives:
In 2025 and onwards, we are concentrating our efforts in supporting the Hospital to provide regularly used clinical services that have an ongoing, if not increasing, demand in Ludlow. Rather than both provider and patient having to bear the additional cost and inconvenience of travelling some distance, we are requesting the various health authorities to provide the following deliverables, which we can help financially support and/or administratively manage:
- Officially listing Ludlow Hospital as an Asset of Community Value. A hospital with this status is considered to provide a benefit to the local community and should be protected. If the hospital is put up for sale or removal, the community can be informed and use the Community Right to Bid to pause the sale for six months.
- Evolving Ludlow Hospital’s Minor Injuries Unit into an Urgent Care service that can offer a more comprehensive response locally to a wider range of non-life threatening illnesses and accidents
- A cataract service – this would help avoid patients with poor eyesight having to navigate themselves to distant treatment centres with the additional risk that involves
- an outpatient Ears, Nose and Throat (ENT) at the hospital
- an outpatient Respiratory clinic
- to increase the existing Renal Dialysis unit
- a continence clinic
We look forward to working in partnership with the various organisations involved at Ludlow Hospital to support them in delivering timely, cost effective and accessible healthcare to the whole community. We have started correspondence on all the above six objectives and are currently awaiting responses for some of them.
What are our future objectives?
Ultimately, our aim is for Ludlow Hospital to be re-sited in a building that is fit for purpose and complies to 21stCentury legislation in terms of accessibility for all, energy efficiency and environmental impact. However, that is a long-term goal and until that is achieved, we are passionate in ensuring that existing services in the existing building on Gravel Hill are maintained, improved and expanded where there is demand and it is common sense to provide such services locally.
Not everything can be done at Ludlow Hospital and we aren’t campaigning for that to happen. More specialist and intensive treatment will always needs to be based at larger regional hospitals. Additionally in Ludlow, we are blessed with marvellous GP led health centres that deal with a range of immediate response, family health services. But, it does make sense to base regularly used clinical and outpatient services in our hospital in a growing town of over 10,000 people rather than make ill and vulnerable people travel on infrequent public transport to distant sites.
Beyond the hospital
The League of Friends recognises that there has been a paradigm shift in recent years in community healthcare with (rightly in our opinion), more focus on holistic activities outside the hospital gates, within the community, that support physical and mental wellbeing. To that end, we are now financially supporting some targeted activities that clearly contribute to this community wellbeing:
Ludlow Assembly Rooms projects:
Currently, we are delighted to provide assistance so that a regular Singalong event takes place at Ludlow Assembly Rooms for those suffering with dementia/Alzheimer’s/memory loss and their carers. The benefits of music, lyrics and an environment of happiness and understanding has immediate benefits for those attending and the group is growing.
Additionally, we are providing commercial support so that discounted tickets for matinee cinema performances continues at least three days a week. This gives access to entertainment and company for those in our community who may feel isolated or lonely, These matinee performances would not be commercially viable without our support.
Hands Together Ludlow projects:
The League of Friends has provided Hands Together Ludlow with £5000 of funding per quarter since April 2024. This funding has supported Hands Together to deliver and provide the following activities and interventions to Ludlow residents and beyond, namely Prescription Deliveries, Befriending activities, Transport for Hospital Appointments, Social Prescribing (through GP surgeries) and the Good Grief cafe. The League believes these services to be essential for the health and wellbeing of our local population and we have received welcome feedback on their use.
The key to the Hands Together approach is that it is reactive to the needs of Ludlow – the organisation will do whatever it can for groups and individuals who walk in with a problem, and they work closely with other organisations to identify those gaps for the less forthcoming
Trustees & Committee
Co Chair: Michael Evans
Co Chair: Jennifer Gill
Trustees:
Treasurer: Jeffrey Walker
Administration: Steve Catanach
Hillary Delaney Hall
Yvonne Evans
John Farley
Fiona Pizzoni
Paul Rew
Committee:
Ellen Jones
Ruth Turner