We are a registered charity who fundraise to support our local hospital - Bognor Regis War Memorial Please note: we don’t use Messenger. Call 01243 865418.
Please don’t try to contact via Messenger.
08/07/2023
Still needed for the Hospital Fete (29th July):
*Bottles (of anything; unopened and in date)
*Handbags & accessories
*Toys & games
*Tombola prizes (smellies;gifts;boxes of chocs or biscuits;etc.)
*Homemade preserves (don’t bring in before 24th July though please)
*Books
Thank you! 💙🌈
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Friends of Bognor Hospital posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
During the First World War, scores of wounded soldiers were sent to Bognor Regis and accommodated in temporary wooden huts under the care of local GP Dr S Lane. Very quickly the people of Bognor realised that the area needed a “proper” hospital and so a local man, Mr James Fleming, donated Springfield House on Chichester Road, along with £2000 to furnish and equip it as a hospital. It opened on 16th July 1919 and had 8 beds, a small operating theatre and an outpatients department. In its first year, the hospital cared for 26 inpatients but by 1928, admissions had increased to 258 and the local population demanded a larger and more adequate hospital.
So, James Fleming donated the adjoining land and, with the local community holding lots of fundraising events (including the proceeds from the first film showing at the new Bognor Picturedrome Cinema), they raised enough money to build a new hospital. The foundation stone was laid in 1931 and the new hospital was opened on 24th September 1932.
The new hospital had 29 beds, x-ray facilities, a casualty department, theatres, an outpatients department, two adult wards and a children’s ward, and cost the grand sum of £31,000. It also had a carved wood memorial (pictured below) in the entrance hall, which listed the names of the 324 men from the town who had given their lives in the war.
Shortly after the introduction of the NHS in 1948, the Western Regional Hospital Board announced plans to close the hospital but the people of Bognor had other ideas! The held public protests and marches and showed such support for their hospital that the Board withdrew their plans.
The Friends of Bognor Hospital was founded in 1953 by two local businessmen, Leslie Smith and Don Baines (photos below).
Their mission was to raise funds for the hospital to ensure that the people of Bognor Regis could continue to receive first rate medical care close to home. They would purchase equipment and amenities that were not funded by the Ministry to improve comfort and efficiency for the hospital patients. Over the next few years, services at the hospital grew to include a hydrotherapy pool and day rooms and in 1959, another extension was added at a cost of £10,000. Then, in 1985, plans were announced to further build onto the existing hospital to increase the beds and create additional space for Physiotherapy, a new hyrotherapy pool, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and more area for car parking. The new extension would also include a Chapel and Don Baines designed the stained glass windows (picture below). The new wing was opened in 1991 by Princess Alexandra.
Over the years the Friends have raised money to fund hundreds of purchases, from reference books for the Physiotherapists to funding the entire Springfield Dialysis Unit. The unit is run by Portsmouth Hospitals Trust but serves the patients in the Bognor area so that they no longer have to travel to Portsmouth several times a week for dialysis. The Friends also donated £500,000 to St Richards Hospital in Chichester for their Scanner & Cancer Centre appeal as, again, this service will benefit the people of Bognor Regis. Each year the Friends give the wards money to buy a small Christmas present for each inpatient and also give each inpatient a chocolate egg at Easter because everyone would prefer to be in their own home, especially at special times of the year so we try to make the time in hospital as pleasant as possible.
We are now a committee of 14 people who are still passionate about our local hospital and do whatever we can to continue Leslie & Don’s great work.
The main fundraiser of the year is the annual Summer Fete which is held on the last Saturday of July. The Friends committee members, along with the staff and volunteers from the hospital’s wards and departments can be found selling raffle tickets, manning stalls, playing games and often looking daft, all in the name of charity.
Aside from the Fete, we have a Christmas Draw in November/December, a staff quiz in the autumn and other small events through the year. We are also lucky enough to have a few local groups who make us their “charity of the year” and who hold fundraisers on our behalf. We also rely heavily on donations through coin collections and legacies and never cease to be astounded at the generosity of our local community.
All the money we raise goes directly to benefit the hospital. The majority will be spent on equipment for the patients (see our list of purchases) and occasionally we will purchase equipment that is directly for staff use but that will benefit patients in some way (e.g. training books etc.). We also hold a Christmas lunch for the hospital volunteers, as they work so hard to help the staff look after the patients, whether they are running the Friends’ Teabar in the Minor Injuries department, pushing the trolley around the wards for patients to purchase sweets etc., or simply just chatting to patients who might otherwise not have anyone to visit them - they are all invaluable.
If you visit our hospital, look out for the little blue and white stickers that our Chairman, Brian Knight, sticks on anything we have purchased. You’ll be surprised at the variety of items the stickers can be found on!
