SOME HISTORY

On the 7th June 2014, The League of Friends of Johnson Community Hospital celebrated our Diamond Jubilee Celebration in the grounds of Johnson Community Hospital. The League of Friends of Spalding Hospitals, now known as the Friends of Johnson Community Hospital, was formed by a group of ladies headed by Nellie Fowler and a local bank manager. The aim was to care for the well-being and comfort of patients at the Johnson Hospital and the Mintling Home in Pinchbeck Road, later to be known as the Avalon Ward which was later situated opposite the Johnson Hospital.

Some years later, the hospital was re-located to Roman Bank in Spalding and was called the Welland Hospital. The League's aim in those early days was to provide toiletries, confectionery, outings, and gifts for patients to make their stay in hospital a little more comfortable. Today, those aims continue, with a trolley shop manned by the friends giving a friendly smile and stopping for a chat. The patients also receive a gift at Christmas and on Mothering Sunday.

Johnson Hospital was founded through a bequest in the wills of the Misses Elizabeth Ann and Mary Ann Johnson, daughters of the Reverend Walter Maurice Johnson, and dedicated by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1881. The cost of the building and equipping the hospital was £9044.9s.4d.

In 1981, a group of business people launched the Centenary Appeal providing and equipping an Outpatients' Department in Priory Road, which was a very welcome and well-used facility. In 2010, HRH Princess Anne was invited to formally open the new hospital. She spent a happy time with staff and patients making it a very special day of celebration. The new name "The Johnson Community Hospital" depicts the special relationship with all the people of South Holland. It is "our" hospital where the doctors, nurses, and staff are perpetuating the ideals laid down so many years ago.

THE PRESENT DAY

The League of Friends is a registered charity - Charity Number 214542 - with trustees drawn from organisations and individuals in the local community wishing to support the hospital. As technology has advanced in recent years, the Friends have raised funds to provide equipment that would not have been possible through the NHS.

In recent years, the League has launched appeals for scanners and other hi-tech equipment which have been generously supported with donations from businesses and voluntary organisations within the town and district. The hospital is fully equipped, but there is always a need for additional equipment to improve the services and comfort of those attending the hospital. In the first six years since occupying the new hospital, the Friends have purchased medical equipment and gifts in excess of £44,000.00. None of this would have been possible without the generous support from donations and legacies from businesses, voluntary organisations, and the good people of South Holland and beyond.

"The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with faith to fight for it." - Aneurin Bevan