Staff decorated their wards and donned wartime dress to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe day (VE Day).
 
Hundreds of staff and our local community all got involved in our events taking place across the week.
 
We held a 1940s themed day on Thursday with staff encouraged to dress up in 1940s clothing.

 
We had live music from the Trust choir and a competition for the most decorated ward, which was won by Phlebotomy at King George Hospital and Sunrise B at Queen's Hospital.
 
Staff on Sunrise B ward at Queen’s Hospital decorated their ward with bunting and a large cut-out of Britain’s wartime PM Winston Churchill.
 
They displayed ration books, leaflets and copies of newspapers at the time, as well as photos of their grandparents and relatives during the war.

 
Healthcare Assistant Kathy Groves, who works on Sunrise B (pictured above) contributed photos of her own Nan and Grandad.
 
Kathy said:

My Grandad served in the Army for nine years and my Mum was born in 1939, so her first six or seven years was the Second World War.

Phlebotomist Tanya Kettlety works across Queen’s Hospital and King George Hospital.

She praised the decorations at both hospitals, including the winning entry from phlebotomy at King George Hospital (pictured below).
 
Tanya said:

We made the decorations at Queen’s over the space of about two weeks, we printed and cut the card at home, we made the poppies all by hand in our spare time.
 
We all put some money in and had a group collection for the planes on the ceiling, and we had some left over for cakes for the team so it was a whole team effort. You’ve got to keep that memory alive on VE Day.
 

Pupils from local schools across our community contributed to the decorations with their colourful peace lanterns in the atrium at Queen’s Hospital.

We held a memorial service and joined in with the national moment of silence at King George Hospital and Queen's Hospital to commemorate the day.
 
Debbie Babalola, People Promise Manager who helped organised the VE Day events, said:

The whole week went really well, it was great to see such a large number of staff participating and how far our staff went to remember the sacrifices made from the greatest generation.

Samantha Smith, Associate Director of People and Veteran Management Champion, said:

VE Day is an opportunity for us to honour the courage of veterans from across the world.
 
As a Trust we are proud to support our patients and staff from the Armed Forces and their families. We recognise their service, scarifies and the unique contributions they bring to healthcare.