VE Day celebrations across UHN

Yesterday we marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day across Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals. This is a day to mark the end of WW2 across Europe.

Our VE Day events also crossed not only our hospital sites, but also the generations. With play teams across both hospitals encouraging some of our youngest patients to take part VE Day activities. Young people were offered the opportunity to take part in crafting including VE Day word searches, colouring and medal making.

Clare is a member of the play team and explained why marking these occasions with the patients on our children’s ward is important:

“It’s all about awareness. People went through the most incredible times during WW2. It’s hugely important we celebrate VE Day and similar dates to ensure theses dates are kept in our memories. Young people who took part in the activities today will remember VE Day as the time they were in hospital, and they made a VE Day medal or had a special afternoon tea. They will pass stories on in the future too and continue the VE Day legacy”.

Our amazing play teams have been busy decorating both Skylark ward and Disney ward with flags, bunting and sandbags – really getting into wartime spirit.

At KGH there was a simple afternoon tea of cake and treats too, with the catering team baking a special cake (It’s a good job we didn’t have rationing when they baked the cake). The play team then visited young people on the ward with their trolley of treats and playing 1940s music.

Elsewhere in our hospitals our Spiritual and Pastoral care team supported this important day by holding a two-minute silence at midday. Colleagues, visitors and patients gathered to pay their respects to those who had sacrificed so much.

Mike Corcoran (Lead Chaplain, KGH) said “The act of remembrance is an important way to remember those who gave their lives for the safety and security of our country. It also shows us how things can escalate if we don’t live in harmony with each other”.

The services also included readings of poems and prayers from our chaplains.

Elsewhere across our hospitals other teams decorated their wards and departments with wartime-style posters and bunting; and encouraged conversations and reminiscences with all our patients. We even had a bagpiper pay tribute too.

Across UHN we give our respect to the bravery and sacrifice of a generation from across the UK and Commonwealth.