THE Burnley FC captain Ben Mee visited ‘Royal Bolton Hospital’ a Lancashire hospital on last Friday to spend a day with patients as well as staff and observe the effect of donations to NHS Charities by many Premier League players.
Captain as well as the Centre back of Burnley FC Ben Mee (age 32), has been meeting staff, patients and many volunteers during his visits to Royal Bolton Hospital since last two years, i.e. from the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic that has helped the NHS to push their limit.
Mee and his team-mates were a part of the Premier League’s Players Together initiative since two years, it is a group where professional footballers come together to donate part of their salary to the NHS Charities which is a beautiful initiative by these players.
This group was Launched by Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson, and as it is a great initiative, later it was also supported by England and Scotland’s women’s teams, they helped to raise millions of pounds to support NHS hospital charities across the country, including in the such as Lancashire etc.
The Cash support given was, £327,600 which was allocated to NHS Charity at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, where it was used to help and fund 17 newly formed staff welfare facilities which facilitates the staff to relax, rest and reflect.
Even after the intense and continuing pressure created by the Covid-19 pandemic being added on top of existing pressure on staff, more than two thirds of NHS staff nationally have reported a mental health condition in the past two years, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
The Trust has also introduced a ‘Caring for Yourself’ programme using the funding to equip staff with skills to look after their mental health as they continue to work on the frontline caring for ill and vulnerable patients.
On his visit, Ben Mee said: “I am so grateful to meet the incredible staff at Royal Bolton Hospital and it’s been fantastic to see the positive impact funding is making so far”. “I know from my own personal experience, with my daughter Olive being born prematurely at 24 weeks, that it was the staff at that hospital who got us through”.
During his visit, Ben Mee met a person who was funded by NHS Charities Together named ‘Neal Ashurst’ who in normal days is an Operating Department Practitioner in the Theatres department, he is the one who redeployed Critical Care to help care for patients with Covid-19.
Mr Ashurst said: “Meeting Ben has been a real morale boost for all of us at the hospital. It’s hard to believe it’s been over two years since the beginning of the pandemic”.
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