Xmas Day visitor

THREE trolleys normally used to take medication to patients in Bexhill Hospital's Irvine Unit were heavily laden with gifts on Christmas morning.

Town Mayor Cllr Eric Armstrong and his wife and Mayoress Jeanette were greeted by smiling staff wearing festive tinsel and trimmings when they paid the Mayoralty's traditional Christmas visit.

Greetings cards were suspended from the curtain rails surrounding almost every bed. A large Christmas tree donated by Carrolls greengrocers and stars donated by Sainsburys dominated the communal area beneath the unit's atrium.

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Sister Flip Izzard-Wicks and her staff had a "full house" for the Christmas holiday. The unit has 54 beds and every one was occupied.

For the League of Friends of Bexhill Hospital, retiring social committee chairman Harriet Chapman had been busy yet again, making up parcels of league leagues for every patient - plus 22 attendees at the unit's day hospital. It was the 17th year that she had performed the task.

On the menu for the Christmas lunch to follow was the full Christmas fare - turkey and all the trimmings with Christmas pudding to follow.

But first the Mayor and Mayoress had one of the most popular duties of their year of office to perform - handing out the league's gifts and greeting every patient.

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Time was of the essence. Visits to both the fire station and police station were next on the civic couple's Christmas diary.

League chairman Peter Mitchell-Davis and colleagues were on hand to help as the party busied themselves from bed to bed, bay to bay.

Sister Izzard-Wicks told the Observer: "Can I make a special mention of the lovely Christmas tree? It was provided by Carrolls greengrocers after a large company let us down.

"The stars are from Sainsbury's from last year.

"I went in and asked what they were going to do with them. They were going to throw them away so instead they let us have them.

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"I would like to give special thanks to the League of Friends for their continuing support. Not only have they again provided all the presents this morning they agreed to provide all the books for my study and for use here and they are already providing invaluable."

Typical of the patients to whom the Town Mayor and Mayoress brought the town's Christmas greetings was Marjorie Harmer.

She was expecting other Christmas visitors lately in the form of her family.

"I have 14 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren..."

Kathleen Watling told the Mayor and Mayoress: "This is lovely. Thank you so much for coming."