Royal Navy helps out West Suffolk Hospital’s Childrens’ Ward

Time:             1pm

Date:             Friday, 19th September
Venue:          Rainbow Ward, West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds

The Royal Navy is coming to West Suffolk Hospital on Friday 19^th September to make a donation to the Rainbow Ward, where sick children are cared for. Submariners from HMS Vengeance will present a cheque for £300 to Ann Robinson, Acting Ward Manager. Media are invited to attend.

The men from HMS Vengeance – based in Faslane in Scotland – raised the money on a sponsored cycle ride with a difference: theirs was aboard a submarine! They used the submarine’s cycling machine in the gym to cycle thousands of miles to raise money for charity.

“While we are at sea we still have to maintain a high level of fitness, and decided that a sponsored cycle ride was a great way of keeping fit and raising money for a good cause at the same time,” said Lieutenant Andrew De La Rue. “The idea was to simulate riding around the coast of Britain, so we certainly covered a few miles!”

“We are very grateful to the men of HMS Vengeance for raising this money for us,” said Ann Robinson. “We have had some interesting fundraisers in the past, but this is definitely the first time someone has raised money by cycling on a submarine!  We have not yet decided what to spend the money on, but whatever we decide it will be used to make life more pleasant and stimulating for the children we look after on Rainbow Ward.”

HMS Vengeance is affiliated with Bury St Edmunds Sea Cadets, hence the servicemen’s choice of West Suffolk Hospital to donate money to.

16 September, 2003