NHS staff at the RVI, the Freeman and around the city took five minutes this week to mark the health service's 74th birthday.
With conditions in hospitals and other healthcare settings still challenging as the NHS seeks to recover from the Covid-19 crisis, doctors, nurses, physios and all manner of NHS personnel took part in small events laid on by the Newcastle Hospitals Charity to mark the milestone. The Millennium Bridge was even lit up in blue in recognition on Tuesday night.
The NHS Big Tea is an initiative from the NHS Charities Together organisation - and members of the public can hold their own events "whenever and wherever" they like in order to help raise funds for charities supporting hospital staff and patients.
This year staff baked cakes, made pies and put up decorative bunting to provide a sense of festive spirit even as they worked hard to look after patients. Newcastle Hospitals Charity supplied around 350 Big Tea Packs to staff working at the city's two acute hospitals along with at NHS sites such as the Lumen building and at Regent Point at the Regent Centre.
Teri Bayliss, charity director said: "The Big Tea is an event we look forward to each year, and it has been wonderful to see so many diverse teams coming together to reflect on their excellent work and celebrate the NHS. We were very impressed by the standard of baking this year too, there’s always a nice element of competition between staff!"
Dame Jackie Daniel, chief exec at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, added a tribute to "the incredible work of our staff and volunteers" after what she said had been "another challenging year".
The celebrations came after a tiring weekend for some Newcastle Hospitals staff - a group including lead hospital chaplain Rev'd Capt Katie Watson and nurse specialist Sean Marshall-Kellie completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge, also to raise charity funds. Both Sean and Katie were among the breakout stars of Geordie Hospital.
The 12-hour, 26.4 mile hike - which involved 1,595m of hill-climbing in pouring rain - saw well over a thousand pounds raised. Chaplain Katie said: "“It was a good day on the hills, with skylarks, all kinds of weather and even an ice cream on the way up Whernside! A chance to have time to reflect on the people we raise funds for and the difference we make on their journeys through the hospital system."
Other tea and cake events were held at NHS locations around the North East, including at North Tyneside General Hospital where musicians Tom McConville and Robert Whitehead both entertained staff. Tom and Robert are from the Musicians in Hospitals and Care UK charity.
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