Local businesses are supporting the building of a new sculptural installation at Stoke Mandeville Hospital - Nightingale’s Rainbow - to pay tribute to the resilience and community spirit shown by the NHS and the people of Buckinghamshire, in responding to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
The project also aims to raise money for Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity and the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Charitable Fund whose main fundraising activities have been severely impacted by the social distancing restrictions still in place.
“We are so pleased to be involved in this project and would like to thank all the organisations who have helped make the construction of Nightingale’s Rainbow possible, “ says Jo Turner, CEO of Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity. “The impact of the coronavirus crisis has been felt across all NHS Services, from clinical and support staff to patients and their families. All staff had to adapt incredibly quickly in difficult working conditions, and provide extra support for people who could not be with their loved ones while they were in hospital. The Hospice’s Bereavement Support team also contacted every family whose loved ones died in the Hospital.”
Nightingale’s Rainbow will be built on the roundabout at the A&E Entrance to Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury and will consist of an arch covered with 17,000 tiles in rainbow colours, with planting around it and a patio and seating underneath. As each colour is sponsored, that part of the Rainbow will light up until the whole Rainbow is illuminated, symbolising the community effort involved in the response to the coronavirus.
Members of the public can purchase coloured tiles on the Rainbow for a donation of £20 a tile, and the proceeds will be split equally between the two charities. You can donate online at fnhospice.org.uk/nightingales-rainbow