Recent Donations

September 2008

Children, kidney donors and a 16-stone dog met at the Bakers Arms, in Stratton, to raise money for the Great Western Hospital's kidney unit.

Owners Cathy and John Kelly hosted a bank holiday fun day in honour of Len Mitchell, who has been living with a replacement kidney for 20 years. The 83-year-old war veteran and ex-professional footballer was greeted by regulars after a 10-week stay in hospital. He said: "I think it's a really good idea. The kidney unit have done so much for me down the years, without them I wouldn't be here."

Len, who has raised thousands of pounds for charity and twice beaten cancer, had a kidney transplant in 1983. "There are people who have had kidneys for longer than me, but not people of my age," he said. "They are people who had problems from an early age, whereas I was fine until a while before the operation."

Throughout the afternoon visitors enjoyed two bouncy castles and a barbecue, but star of the show was Mungo the mastiff-rottweiler cross. The 16-stone gentle giant hates water, but was scrubbed clean by Dial-a-Dogwash in a purpose-built bath. Mungo's owner John Kelly said: "He's been aware that something was up for quite a while, but the staff have managed to keep him happy."

All money raised from the day will be donated to the kidney unit at the Great Western Hospital, said landlady Cathy. She said: "We're doing this as a tribute to Mitch; he's a living legend. "We've known Mitch for about 17 years, and he always manages to light up the place." Regular Tony Scull, 31, said: "He really is the best character in the pub, and he gets on with all ages. "He makes everyone feel welcome with a smile and a joke, and he's my cribbage partner too."

The former Desert Rat is also made of strong stuff. In 1983, just four hours after finishing a course of kidney dialysis, he walked the Swindon Half Marathon in a time amateur runners would be proud of. He said: "I did it in just under five hours, but I was 60 mind. "The nurses would have thrown a fit if they had known what I had done, but I thought why not get involved?"

Quoted from the Swindon Advertiser

We have recently received some further donations

a bequest of £5200 in the will of a lady who collected 20p coins for us when we were raising money for the original temporary dialysis unit.
we have also received £500 from the Lyneham Thrift Shop who have also supported us in the past.
recent donations too have come from friends and family of Mr and Mrs Shergold who recently celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary.

All donations will be used wisely for the benefit of patients who now receive their treatment in Swindon.

7 June 2006

Over the past few months we have sadly lost a few patients and also family members of some of our patients. Many of these have generously requested donations in their memory for which we are truly grateful.
All these donations will be spent carefully in the future for the benefit of patients.
In addition, one of our late patients, Mr Leslie Selman left us a substantial donation of £12,600 in his will in grateful thanks for the care he had received at the Swindon Unit.
It was decided that this money should be spent in purchasing major items of equipment which would benefit both present and future patients.

To date we have purchased:

2 Crit Lines at a cost of £4,750 – we managed to do this by buying one and getting one free
2 Blood Pressure Machines at a cost of £3,000 for the pair – purchased through the hospital purchasing system
2 Wheelchairs at a cost of £545
1 set of Electronic Scales (£315) for the new CAPD Treatment Area
1 DVD Player (£25) for training use in the new CAPD Treatment Area
1 Large Set of Shelving units (£1,500) for the new CAPD Treatment Area
1 Manual Ice Machine (£200)

Wendy Armitage Secretary – Swindon KPA