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Treat for NHS community team after kind donation
Members of an NHS team based in Sudbury have enjoyed a special treat thanks to a kind gift from Liz Brightwell, whose husband Wayne was cared for by the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s community nurses and therapists until he sadly died in July.
At his wake, £500 was raised, and Liz has generously used this to give everyone in the 54-strong team a £10 voucher for afternoon tea at Painters café in Sudbury at a reduced rate, thanks to the generosity of café owner Tracy Cleet.
Liz said: “With the help of the team I was able to honour his wish to stay at home. Wayne looked forward to them coming, they were so kind and boosted his morale. They spoke to him in a straightforward way, which was him.”
Wayne, who was 77, had a long history of heart and kidney failure, and frequent admissions to hospital. “He was determined not to go back into hospital, and with the team’s help, he was able to die at home surrounded by his family. He so loved his family,” said Liz, who has two children and two grandchildren.
She added: “Wayne said: ‘it’s these people who deserve a treat”, so I have made sure they get a treat. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to do.”
“I took a big china pig to the wake for people to give donations. I even managed to stand up in front of the 170 people there and said: “This can happen, it can work, you can be at home’.
“I won’t say it was easy looking after Wayne, but I have the satisfaction of saying I did it,” added Liz, who has been a teacher for special needs children for 27 years.
Jennifer McCrory, Sudbury integrated neighbourhood team health lead said: “Liz felt Wayne was so well cared for and she is extremely grateful. Tracy Cleet, the owner of Painters, kindly agreed to do this at a reduced rate to enable every single member of staff to have an afternoon treat, paid for by the contributions made at our patient’s funeral.”
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