A collection at the funeral of a well known farm labourer and funds from an NHS70 party has helped to boost the Every Heart Matters appeal.
Over 150 people attended a service held at St Mary’s Church, in Feltwell, near Brandon, for John Jacob, who died aged 84, and lived in the village in St Nicholas Drive.
He was rushed to the West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, by ambulance from his home, suffering from a series of complaints including a heart attack, double pneumonia, fluid on the lungs and kidney failure.
But six days later and despite efforts to keep him alive he passed away.
Daughter Sally Hobbs was full of praise for staff at the hospital who she said the hospital treated her father and the family with dignity and great care.
So along with his 82-year-old wife Shirley and daughter Mandy Scott they decided to have the collection at his funeral with a total of £1,000 being raised which will go towards the fund to help raise £500,000 for a new cardiac diagnostic centre at the West Suffolk Hospital.
“The amount we collected was amazing and it just goes to show how much thought of dad was,” said Sally. “We feel it is so important to have the heart unit locally to save patients having to travel further afield.”
Meanwhile, the NHS70 party held at the Victory Ground, in Bury St Edmunds, raised £657 for the appeal.
The event, which was attended by over 60 people, was organised by Unison members. The evening featured the band Clinical Waste, made up of consultants and staff from the West Suffolk Hospital.
Paul Pearson, the Trust convenor for the union at the hospital, said the funds were raised from ticket sales and a raffle with prizes being donated by a host of businesses including Harriet’s Tea Rooms, Sports Direct, Vodaphone and UNISON.
“We hoped to have the party on the hospital site but that proved difficult so we eventually had it at the cricket ground and it was a great event,” he said. “More than 60 people attended including Labour MEP Alex Mayer and the venue was donated to us and the band donated their time as well.
“Tickets were sold at £4 but much of the money we raised came from the raffle.”
And he praised the organisers of the party: Liz Fox, IT project manager at the hospital; Peggy Brame, UNISON volunteer; Janet Watkins, hospital waiting list manager; and Mark Trask from Suffolk Police.
If you want to support the Every Heart Matters appeal go to the website www.mywishcharity.co.uk and if you would like to donate to the appeal you can do so by going to: Justgiving.com/ehma or text EHMA17 £10 to 70070.
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