OUT IN THE FIELD: Eastbourne garden waste collection is rubbish
The town is now officially a mass of temporary traffic lights (they frequently stop working in Gildredge Road), traffic cones and red and white traffic barriers. The town centre improvement scheme will I am sure be fantastic when it is done but everyone’s patience is wearing a bit thin when you throw the ongoing work at Whitley Road and Beamsley Road into the equation. And now Langney Rise will soon be closed. Deep joy.
If ever there was a reflection of the sign of the times, it’s the illustrious history of the marvellous Friends of Eastbourne Hospital charity, now celebrating its 70th anniversary. The charity, known back then as the Hospital Patients Association and later the Friends of the Eastbourne Hospitals, has raised in excess of £16 million over the years. What is telling is that back in the 1940s and 50s there were eight hospitals in the Eastbourne area including Princess Alice, St Mary’s, The Leaf, Merlynn Convalescent, Gildredge, Downside, the Eye Hospital, ENT Hospital and the Maternity Home, affectionately known as Number Nine Upperton Road, where most of us of a certain age were born. One of the first donations in 1949 was a radiogram for Number Nine. Following the closure of All Saints Hospital in 2004, the Eastbourne DGH became not only the only hospital being supported by the charity but the only one left in Eastbourne, so in 2013 the name was changed to avoid confusion – this time to the Friends of the Eastbourne Hospital. Long may the charity continue its wonderful work in providing extra equipment and services for patients and staff.
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Hide AdThe Birthday Shout Out returns this week and those blowing out the candles include Sandra Farmer, Claire Blacklaws, Pauline Lorence, coastguard Keith Rayment, Billy Reed, Yvonne Allan, Sue O’Hara and photographer Mark Dimmock.