More than 1,800 gifts handed out to patients in hospital on Christmas Day 2022 across Northamptonshire

More than 1,800 gifts were handed out to patients in hospital on Christmas Day 2022 across Northamptonshire.

The Northamptonshire Health Charity, which supports NHS hospitals and community services, organises a present appeal each year.

In 2022, the organisation made sure all patients in hospital over the festive season were thought of, with the help of generous volunteers and members of the community.

A spokesman for the charity said: “We would like to send a very special thank you to everyone who kindly donated items to our Christmas Gifts for Patients appeal for 2022.

“Thanks to you, we were able to ensure that gift bags of items were distributed to 1,885 patients in the local NHS hospitals across Northamptonshire that we support.

“The outpouring of kindness and generosity from our local community, including many local businesses, helped us to make sure no one in hospital on Christmas day 2022 was forgotten.

“Thank you all so much for making a difference and bringing a smile to patients at Northampton General Hospital, Kettering General Hospital and those in the community and mental health hospitals under Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust.”

Following the delivery of presents, the charity received grateful messages from patients and their families, including: “Thank you so much for the lovely, useful, thoughtful gifts in my Christmas bag. Thank you too, to all the charity donors,” and “my husband is a patient in Kettering General Hospital. Thank you so much for the surprise present bag. It was very much appreciated.”

Shelagh Cowley nursing and quality lead at Isebrook Hospital in Wellingborough added: “I wanted to pass on our thanks for the wonderful gifts that you provided for our patients for Christmas.

“Many of our patients do not have relatives or people who can visit over Christmas so finding a lovely gift bag at the end of their bed on Christmas morning was a surprise and received with joy… It makes such a difference.”

The charity also thanked everyone who volunteered their time to help with sorting and distributing the presents across all of the hospitals – the NGH and KGH Volunteer Services teams, staff from Ricoh and Impact Recruitment.