Schools in West Sussex design posters to mark twinning with hospital wards
The posters will be displayed at ward entrances.
Schools and communities in West Sussex have been designing posters to mark the start of their twinning partnership with wards in Western Sussex Hospitals.
Durrington Infant & Junior Federated Schools is twinned with Bluefin children’s ward.
To mark the partnership, pupils in Year 3, 4 and 5 have drawn pictures of a school, hospital and people from both places all coming together.
Christie Taylor, senior health play specialist on Bluefin ward, said:
"We absolutely love the poster and the idea behind it.
"We are proudly displaying it at the entrance of the ward.
"A huge thank you to everyone at the school.
"We’re really excited by the future opportunities of this wonderful initiative."
The twinning scheme launched after rainbow pictures and messages of support were sent to patients who could not have visitors because of COVID-19 restrictions during the lockdown period.
The wards at Worthing and St Richard’s hospitals are named after communities in Sussex and in many cases are being twinned with those who share their name.
For example, Durrington High School is twinned with Durrington ward, and to mark their partnership, more than 50 students entered a competition to design their twinning logo.
The Trust’s dedicated charity, Love Your Hospital, will now use the winning designs by Ruby and Megan to create the final twinning poster, which will greet patients, staff and visitors to the ward.
David Clayton-Evans, interim head of Love Your Hospital, said:
"During the height of the pandemic, the charity saw an incredible outpouring of support from the local community for our hospitals.
"The many colourful pictures and positive messages received from our local schools formed part of this and made a world of difference to staff and patients alike.
"The schools twinning initiative offers a way for this wonderful support to continue now and well beyond COVID-19."
But, it is not just schools getting involved.
Neighbours from Whyke Lane South are twinned with Fishbourne ward and have also designed a poster to mark their twinning.
Pearl Green, Fishbourne ward sister, said:
"I would like thank Whyke Lane South community for their support.
"We are looking forward to developing this relationship and will be meeting with them in the coming months to discuss ideas of how to take this partnership forward."