Bassetlaw Hospital to 'shine with starlight' in tribute to virus victims and NHS heroes

An artist impression of what the hospital will look like lit up with stars.

In December, a variety of stars, of all shapes and sizes, will be safely secured to the building, each bearing a special message from their respective sponsor.

At night, they will begin to shine, illuminating the area with festive starlight.

The campaign has been made possible by the support of more than 60 local businesses, organisations and families, who have paid to sponsor a star and in the process have raised more than £30,000.

This will be directly reinvested into patient care, treatment and facilities, as well as some Christmas gifts for those staying in hospital over the seasonal period.

Richard Parker OBE, chief executive and nurse of many years’ experience at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: “We have been utterly amazed by the support this campaign generated in just a handful of days.

"As a trust, we have wanted to do something like this for a number of years, and given the challenges we have all faced since March, we felt this was the perfect time to provide a fitting tribute to our NHS heroes, as well as those we have lost to Covid-19.

“We know that this is a really difficult time and this is a very big ask, and as such I want to thank those who have sponsored a star. The kindness shown to the trust, and the wider NHS, throughout the past few months has been humbling. We can’t wait to cover our hospitals in starlight this December.”

So far sponsors also include a number of generous local families, individuals and schools, as well as a £10,000 donation from furniture company DFS.

Nick Smith, chief executive at DFS, said: “The whole team at DFS is honoured to be supporting our local hospital this Christmas. We are so very grateful to our NHS ‘stars’ and we feel this is a wonderful way to pay tribute to the relentless and extraordinary care they’ve given our local community, particularly over the past year.”

The stars will light up the hospital from December 2, with an official switch-on ceremony to take place virtually via the trust’s social media pages on Facebook and Twitter.