Staff working at the UK Royal Preston Hospital are set to benefit from a £250k charitable donation aimed at ensuring their on-going wellbeing and to assist them in the fight against COVID-19. This significant donation, made on behalf of SPAR UK partner James Hall and Co., will enable the hospital to realise its ambition to transfer out-of-date facilities into a state of the art area for staff to unwind, relax and in some cases catch up on much needed sleep.     

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides district general hospital services to a local community of 390,000 and specialist services to 1.5 million people across Lancashire and South Cumbria.

The scheme will include refurbished male and female showers, cubicles, and lockers; sleep “PODS” for staff who have been working long shifts and are too tired to drive home safely; indoor relaxation area complete with sofas, yoga mats, and tea and coffee making facilities; a refurbished breast feeding room and an outdoor patio area with table and chairs so that staff can unwind in the fresh air.

Speaking on behalf of the Hall family, Andrew Hall said: “As a longstanding local business, we wanted to make a donation which would have a positive impact on NHS staff morale and provide a legacy for the community which would reach far beyond COVID-19.”

“We are extremely grateful that our generous donor, James Hall and Company, has agreed to back this particular project which is important to us as it was the brain child of one of our own clinicians”, said Karen Partington, Chief Executive at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

“We know that high quality facilities like these will make a huge difference to staff and help improve their physical and mental well-being, which in turn helps them to provide the best possible patient care. We also know that this kind of investment in our estate encourages the recruitment and retention of staff, which is more important than ever before”, she added.

Source: SPAR UK

About SPAR UK

The UK became a member of SPAR in 1956 when a group of independent wholesalers was granted the SPAR licence by SPAR International. There are five regional partners in the UK with strategically placed Distribution Centres in each region. A central office, located in London, provides national marketing and buying services for the group and supports the development of the brand.

SPAR has led the convenience market in the UK for many years but has faced increasing competition. Always innovative, the five regional partners have continued to grow the brand. Throughout the UK, a combination of independently-owned licensed retailers and company-owned stores can be found, spanning forecourts, airports, train stations, city centres, and local neighbourhoods.