Two weeks of events, ‘Celebrating BHRUT’, for our staff and their families, volunteers and our local communities, drew to a close on Saturday (13 July) with a family fun day.

Around 6,000 people joined our celebrations across the fortnight, including almost 1,000 schoolchildren who joined us for a careers fair on Tuesday 2 July to encourage our workforce of the future.

Our family fun day, held in the grounds of King George Hospital, saw colleagues and their loved ones enjoy fairground rides, bouncy castles, balloon modelling, tasty treats and face painting.

Demi Griggs, pharmacy assistant, said:

This is the first time I’ve been to the fun day, I think it’s amazing that the Trust does this, I’m so proud to work for this Trust. What other trust lays on things like this that are free? It’s amazing.

With the cost of living, some parents might not be able to afford to do these sorts of things with their children so this gives them the opportunity to spend quality time together.

Midwife Chloe Street added:

Being able to come out with the family and really enjoy the day, the fact we put this on every year is really lovely.

You become two families, working for the NHS. You become your work family and it’s nice to integrate your own family with your work family at the same time. The kids have had an amazing time!

On Friday 12 July it was all about celebrating our teams with a packed day full of activities across both our hospitals from breakfast at 7am all the way to a staff party until 11pm. In between, staff enjoyed brunch and afternoon tea.

Amrita Robertson (pictured above, second left) attended brunch at King George Hospital with colleagues from our Medical Photography team. She said:

I only joined the Trust two months ago, so I’ve never been to an event like this before. It’s really nice to get out with the team. The food and everything looks really good.

Kulwinder Kaur (above), pre-registration lead from our undergraduate nursing team, who also enjoyed brunch, added:

It’s a really good event and it’s so nice to interact with staff, especially those I wouldn’t usually meet as part of my work.

It’s nice to celebrate our staff and thank them for what they do, I feel really valued. Staff seem to be enjoying themselves, the food is lovely, and the entertainment is really good.

Entertainment across the events included performances from our staff band the Pfizer Chiefs (below), including our own Chief Executive, Matthew Trainer, and Alan Wishart, our Director of Workforce and a founding member of 80s Scottish rock band Big Country.

At our evening party, consultant upper GI surgeon Samrat Mukherjee said:

I’m so excited to be here! There’s a brilliant vibe and it’s lovely to see everyone out of work.

Terri Shepherd, advanced nurse practitioner in endoscopy, added:

We feel really well looked after, it’s nice to be spoiled once every now and then and we look forward to it every year!

On Thursday 11 July the spotlight was on our dedicated volunteers with a special lunch and long service awards, recognising those who have given up their spare time to help our patients for over five years.

Among those receiving awards was daredevil grandfather Charlie Richardson (pictured above right receiving his certificate from our CEO Matthew). While he has volunteered with us for seven years helping patients find their way around, Charlie has also raised thousands of pounds for our volunteer team by undertaking daring challenges like skydiving and abseiling.

And the recognition wasn’t just for our human volunteers – therapy dog Zack (above) won the Sunshine Award for always bringing positivity and joy to patients in our hospitals.

On Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 July we recognised colleagues' combined 3,855 years’ service at our Trust with our Long Service Awards. Among them was our longest serving midwife, Juliette Samuel (pictured below right, with her sister), who said:

The reason I’ve been here for 40 years is because I love what I do.

Over 200 colleagues donned their mortar boards on Monday 8 July at a graduation ceremony for those who had completed a range of education and training programmes at our Trust, including degrees and apprenticeships.

And our staff awards were held on Friday 5 July, recognising teams and individuals who had gone above and beyond.

Among the winners were our Emergency Department matrons, including Emma Beard. She said:

What this Trust does for staff is amazing. This is a great place to work, you get such support.

You can see the full list of winners in our news story.

Summing up our Celebrating BHRUT events, our CEO Matthew, said:

What a fantastic fortnight. Starting off by inviting almost 1,000 local primary and secondary schoolkids to a careers fair was a great way to get them, as the future of the NHS, thinking about all the job opportunities open to them.

Then we were able to celebrate the achievements of our staff and volunteers, before thanking our teams with some fun events for them and their families. Our staff work incredibly hard to look after our patients, so it’s right we take stock of their achievements and show our appreciation for their dedication.

Check out more pictures from our events below.