Sue Bennett
SaTH / Veteran Aware
Fundraising for The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust Charity
Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving
The Deed has been done! What an adventure we’ve had, as Bilbo said to Frodo “it’s a dangerous business going out your door, you step into the road and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept”.
Loch Ness marathon, 26.2 miles in the rain and wind not to mention the “inclines” some of which actually had warning signs!!!!! However, none of this would have been possible without Ann Ridgway from PRH Pharmacy who has stuck with me since that fateful day in the PRH dining room with a sentence that started with “how do you fancy running a marathon ….” I simply can’t thank her enough for all her support, encouragement and friendship which are above and beyond. Also my brilliant colleagues thanks guys xx
We have also raised some funds via SaTH Charity to raise awareness of our Veteran Aware status and a massive thank you to everyone who has donated it really is appreciated , if you want to make a donation please do every little helps!
The reasons are below
I am a Medical Secretary of lets say mature years who started a couch to 5K and with the help and support of some amazing people along the way have managed to go from 5K then a few 10k, I did a half marathon in my home city of Liverpool but that was quite definitely the most I was ever going to do go forward to lunch in the PRH canteen, Ann from Pharmacy asked if I fancied Loch Ness …….. So this is my first and quite possibly my last marathon, I was so sceptical about actually getting to this point that I have obviously cut it a tad fine with this page!! However my running ladies are made of strong stuff and I have had a lot of love and support during the training; I certainly wouldn't have got this far without Ann from Pharmacy. I am not fast (Liverpool half took 3.28.55 those numbers are Important!) and most certainly wont be pretty but this is something I believe we need to raise awareness of; I have not served myself but my husband was RAF for 30 years, our son is now Navy and was part of the fabulous Portering Team here at PRH for years through 6th form and university, my dad and cousins were army and a great (+++) uncle was a WO in Bomber Command - this is something very close to my heart.
I asked Dr. Kevin Eardley Consultant Physician and Nephrologist at SaTH and a Major with 202 Field Hospital to provide a synopsis and he very kindly summed it up as below:-
"Our aim is to have ensure Veterans feel that their military service is valued, and that staff looking after them understand their
particular needs and are equipped to help them access services made available to them in recognition of their service to the Country.
We have therefore set ourselves a number of objectives over the coming months and years. These are:
- for every member of staff to have received Veteran Aware training and so made aware of why Veterans might have particular needs consequent of their services
- to ensure that every patient who wishes to be recognised as a Veteran is identified on electronic systems in support of them accessing Veteran Aware services during their admission and in any future admission
- those in particular need are identified and with Consent referred for multiagency case management
The funds raised by Sue will be used to help us achieve these aims
through the provision of Veteran Awareness staff and patient literature and educational material.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, there are so many far more important ones to be shared and hopefully by raising awareness we can give them a voice
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