A Bradford hospital is inviting its patients who are veterans and serving members of the Armed Forces, along with their families to a Service of Remembrance.
The service will be held at Bradford Royal Infirmary, part of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and will honour and remember the dedication and sacrifice of all those who have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life.
The Act of Remembrance on Friday, 10 November, will be led by the Rev Steve Lees, a Church of England Practitioner in the Trust’s Spiritual, Pastoral and Religious Care (SPaRC), formerly chaplaincy team.
Those attending are asked to gather from 10.40am on the hospital’s main concourse for the short service, which will conclude with a two minutes’ silence at 11am.
This will then be followed by tea, biscuits and an opportunity to mingle and catch up with fellow veterans. There will also be wartime music and songs, raffles, quizzes and representation from the Royal British Legion.
Earlier this year, The Trust was pleased to announce its accreditation as a Veteran Aware organisation, formally recognising its commitment to the Armed Forces Community.
Accreditation was carried out by the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA), which is a group of NHS healthcare providers in England.
A key part of the Trust’s Veteran Aware plan is to recruit veterans as volunteers within the Trust, to meet and greet patients from the armed forces community and provide advice and support if required. It is estimated that more than 9,000 people are from the Armed Community in the Bradford area.
Bradford Teaching Hospitals’ Armed Forces Champion is Fiona Mattison, who previously served as a Senior Aircraft Woman in the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1986 to 2000 when she did tours of duty in Cyprus and Germany.
She said:
We know that across our family of hospitals, we have a number of patients who are veterans and serving members of the Armed Forces and we would love for them and their families to join hospital staff for this service and gathering.
Together, we will honour all those who serve in the Armed Forces, and their families, from Britain and the Commonwealth, the vital role played by the emergency services and those who have lost their lives as a result of conflict.
As well as pausing to remember, the event will also be an opportunity for veterans and serving members to come together and share their stories. If you would like to come along, please feel free to wear your uniform or headdress.
For further information about this event please contact Fiona on 07779 550250 or email veterans@bthft.nhs.uk