Interviewer

So good afternoon. Could I ask your name?

Sally Davies

My name is Sally Davies.

Interviewer

And Sally, could I ask which friends group we’re talking about today?

Sally Davies

I’m  a member of the League of Friends of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital, recently renamed from the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Interviewer

And could I ask out of interest why it’s been renamed?

Sally Davies

Because we are now one hospital on two sites, which has been the case for a while. But there used to be a League of Friends at Telford, but they have now closed down, so we are trying to fill the gap a little bit.

Interviewer

Brilliant, thank you. And could I ask how old you are?

Sally Davies

I’m 65.

Interviewer

Thank you. Now have you always been a local lady?

Sally Davies

I moved to Shropshire when I was seven. And there’s a reason why they call this county “the death of ambition”. We never moved again, my parents settled here, and I’ve stayed here apart from going to Uni. Until now.

Interviewer

It’s a beautiful place though, isn’t it?

Sally Davies

It is. It’s a lovely county, beautiful countryside

Interviewer

And out of interest. Where did you go to Uni?

Sally Davies

I went to art college in Farnham.

 

Interviewer

Oh, did you?

 

Sally Davies

Part of Guildford University.

Interviewer

And what did you study?

Sally Davies

Three D design. Mainly ceramics.

Interviewer

So I have this sense that you’re probably quite a practical person?

Sally Davies

I do tend to see the problems.

Interviewer

Okay, excellent. That’s always helpful. And you’ve lived locally. Have you worked locally, family locally? How’s that been for you?

Sally Davies

Yes, I worked as a potter for quite a few years, about 10 years and then I got married and had a family, and I didn’t really go back to work because I was, you know, the one with the childcare responsibilities, husband was very busy. So I started volunteering when the children were at school.

Interviewer

And where did you first start volunteering?

Sally Davies

Well I think the first thing I did was helping adults who wanted to improve their literacy skills. So that was interesting, and different. I did that for a few years, and then I got involved with the League of Friends after that.

Interviewer

Okay. So what involved you with the League of Friends?

Sally Davies

Well a very good friend said,  I “seemed to be a person with a lot of time on my hands”.

Interviewer

<laugh>

Sally Davies

“Would I like to come along to some of their events, and join the Fundraising Committee”. So I did that.  As it happens, it was a lady called Diana Baart, who was on the fundraising committee with June for many, many years.

Interviewer

So one of the things I’ve picked up about Shrewsbury and Telford’s League of Friends is that you have quite a well-developed committee structure, and people involved. Is that fair?

Sally Davies

It is. It’s well developed. The word it is quite complicated. Okay. So we have a fundraising committee that organises events out and about in the community, and we try and do different things, and have a variety of events. There is the Executive Committee who are more involved with the things in the hospital, and you know, how the money is going to be spent. We have our fantastic shops who generate the vast amount of the income for us to spend on hospital equipment, and we’ve got the four shops in the hospital of varying sizes, and there’s a huge raft of volunteers that just do shops, and are not involved in the other committees.

Interviewer

So what I pick up from that is the opportunity for quite a lot of people to help shape what happens here. You know, you don’t only have to be told what to do, you can be on committees, you can get involved, you can do lots of different things.

Sally Davies

Yes, absolutely. I think a lot of people don’t really want the responsibility of being on the committee. There are lots of people that want to come, and help with events or help volunteering in the shops, but they don’t really want to be decision makers. And it’s actually quite difficult to get Chairman and Vice Chairman on all the committees.

Interviewer

I can imagine. So you start volunteering on the fundraising committee? When was that? How long ago? Roughly?

Sally Davies

About 22 or 23 years. 25 years maybe.

Interviewer

So they never let you escape?

Sally Davies

No. Gone from one thing to another.

Interviewer

So what else have you been involved in?

Sally Davies

Well I’m currently Chair of the Shop Committee.

Interviewer

Okay.

Sally Davies

So a very good friend, Jackie Winwood has been Chair of the shop committee for the previous three years, and she persuaded me that I’d like to take it over a year ago. So I’m doing my best with that. But it’s quite a big business. There’s a lot more to it than I realised, you just don’t know do you?  What’s happening until you find out what’s happening. But it’s fascinating, and our shop manager, and his staff are amazing. They do such a good job.

Interviewer

I chatted to your shop manager while we were waiting for you, and I think you said he’d been here nine years?

Sally Davies

Yes

Interviewer

So it feels like you instil commitment as an organisation in paid staff as well. That it’s a place they like to be in.

Sally Davies

We’re very lucky with our paid staff. It’s not just a job for them, they’re really committed to the charity, to the organisation.

Interviewer

Excellent. So do you have any favourite memory of anything that’s gone on here?

Sally Davies

Well we have had some really good events. One of our biggest events, probably the biggest event ever was a race day, at Ludlow Race Courses. Of course, they did one charity day a year, and you have to apply for it years in advance. And then, you organise all the catering with the caterer they use, but you sell the tickets and organise the seating, and then you get, prizes for a promise auction, and have various other things going on. And we made in the region of £60,000 in one day, which was astonishing. It was more than 10 years ago now. That was our biggest event ever.

Interviewer

But that must have been great fun as well.

Sally Davies

It was. It was huge fun. And everybody on all the committees contributed. It was fantastic working together.

Interviewer

And I imagine a degree of dressing up as well.

Sally Davies

It did involve hats.

Interviewer

That’s always fun. And now I know because I’ve met you in London. You’ve also been recognised for your volunteering, have you not?

Sally Davies

I have. I had a very, very delightful day receiving the League of Mercy Award, which was a complete surprise, and very grateful to have that, well, recognition I suppose.

Interviewer

And for those who haven’t heard of the League of Mercy, what is that all about?

Sally Davies

Well I believe it started many, many years ago before the NHS was set up for people that worked in the health sector in a voluntary way and for people that couldn’t afford to pay, I suppose. Then it subsided, and it was revitalised 25 years ago by Lord Lingfield. And it has been awarded every year since.

Interviewer

And for people who have no idea, it’s quite select isn’t it? There’s not a huge number of recipients every year.

Sally Davies

I gather there’s about 20 or 30 aren’t there each year?

Interviewer

Yes, absolutely. And when it first started, Attend, as a national body, helped with photos, and things to set it up, and they still use a lot of those photos and it was mainly Leagues of Friends. And now I have to say, Leagues of Friends are less in the number, and more hospices.

Sally Davies

Yes, I was surprise by the number of hospices. And amazing stories. People have done different things to set up their charities

Interviewer

So I was delighted to see you recognised there. I think it was well deserved. So when you were coming to see me today, is there anything you wanted to tell me you haven’t had the chance to say yet?

Sally Davies

Well, one thing I would like to sort of mention is that the way that we’ve spent our money as a League of Friends has changed a little bit over the years with the leadership of Richard Steventon. He has encouraged us to look at innovative equipment as well as the things of patient comfort such as reclining chairs in A&E, and discharge lounges. We’ve also been funding more cutting edge equipment in the hope of attracting the leading people in the field, regarding consultants. One of the things that I particularly was keen on was we funded a fertility laser, which has increased the success rate by something like 27% for IVF, which I think is just a fantastic achievement. So that kind of thing really encourages us all to keep going.

Interviewer

Excellent. Now I have one more question really. So for people that may have heard in the background of interviews, they may have heard a little bit, but we are really in an office with a massive building site going on on one side. Things are changing a lot. You’ve talked about, we’ve also started to get involved in Telford here. So it feels like lots of change, and for some people who think that League of Friends were sort of a bit stuck in the 1960s, have you got any comment about how you see the future contribution of the League of Friends here?

Sally Davies

Well, it’s interesting you should ask that, because we are at the moment going through a sort of strategy rethink, and trying to look at how we approach fundraising, and publicity, and all that kind of thing, and to try, and bring ourselves a little bit more into the current century with social media. So, but that is an area that we are looking at, and trying to develop, but it’s quite difficult for us. It’s not in our comfort zone at all.

Interviewer

No, I can imagine. But well done with that. So can I say thank you ever so much. Thank you.

Sally Davies

Thank you.