10 Downing Street acknowledges receipt of SaveWycombeHospital mosaic
On Monday 1st December 2014 an envelope with ’10 Downing Street’ on the back was received by the SaveWycombeHospital campaign.
Inside the envelope was a letter acknowledging the correspondence handed in to 10 Downing Street on Sunday 9th November 2014 by Ventriloquist Steve Hewlett and his puppet Arthur (Britain’s Got Talent). They made the trip to Downing Street to hand in a mosaic asking the Prime Minister to help on behalf of concerned local residents, campaigning for Wycombe Hospital.
Further information on the acknowledgement letter can be found here.
Downgrades at Wycombe Hospital began in 2005 with the removal of the A&E department. A midwife-led birthing centre now replaces the full maternity unit and many other services have been taken away. The nearest hospitals, Stoke Mandeville and Wexham Park, have both been in ‘special measures’ within the past year and are overwhelmed. Many people have suffered since the downgrades at Wycombe.
The message on the back of the mosaic (see attached) concludes : ‘Our hospital land was a gift as a memorial to the Great War. At its centenary – please restore our vital services.‘
The mosaic was created using hand photographs of people from across our local community and beyond, including Gabby Logan, Tim Vincent, The Apprentice candidate Gabrielle Omar, Justin Akpa from The Taste and Nomakhosi from The Voice as part of the Hand Back Our Hospital Hand Campaign.
Over one hundred photographs were received in the mainly social media based picture protest, and two mosaics have been produced, uniting people who want the restoration of hospital services at Wycombe, and further downgrades to stop.
The hand mosaic is also being displayed in shop and home windows by supporters as part of #HandsUpForAHandBack and can be downloaded from https://savewycombehospital.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/qr-mosaic.jpg
Another part of the campaign is to gain signatures for ‘Fair Funding for Buckinghamshire’ which can be found on the website www.savewycombehospital.wordpress.com. This petition is designed to address what is believed to be the underlying cause of issues at Wycombe Hospital – lack of funding. Today, a letter to our Chancellor was also sent, informing him that the petition has now reached 2000 signatures. People are being encouraged to continue signing and sharing this petition.
Keep tuned in to @HandBackOurHosp, https://www.facebook.com/groups/savewycombehospital/ and www.savewycombehospital.wordpress.com to follow the campaign’s progress.
People can also email in to [email protected] and will be kept updated via email once they’ve signed https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/fair-funding-for-buckinghamshire
Mosaic Picture Credit: AndreaMosaic
