East Sussex pandemic patients receive gifts to ‘see and hear loved ones’

Sussex Freemasons, with support from the Masonic Charitable Foundation, is supplying Samsung Galaxy tablets to East and West Sussex hospitals and hospices to help coronavirus patients stay in touch with their families.

NHS hospitals have been forced to limit visits to patients in a bid to control infections. Some of those suffering from the virus can be in intensive care for two to three weeks or more, with one-to-one visits only allowed for dying patients.

A Freemasons spokesperson said on Friday (May 15) the first of the deliveries took place in East Sussex, with the Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in Hastings receiving six tablets each and St Wilfrid’s Hospice receiving three.

Assistant head of Sussex Freemasons John Hornblow, who delivered the tablets and is co-ordinating the Sussex initiative, said the scheme will help keep patients reassured and in comfort.

He said, “Sussex Freemasons are already playing a full role in supporting the NHS across Sussex. This fresh initiative will directly help those patients who are feeling particularly alone and vulnerable get the reassurance and comfort that keeping in touch with their families can provide when they most need it.”

The initiative is part of a wider drive which will see over a thousand of the tablets donated by Freemasons across England and Wales to more than 50 hospitals, care homes and hospices.

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