On Saturday lunchtime members of the Isle of Wight Save our NHS joined members of Melodic Choir to perform a surprise Flashmob event at three different venues in Newport.
Christine Lightbody fron the Sabe our NHS Group told OnTheWight,
“It was quite a challenge to organise and would never have happened without the amazing generosity of Kay De’Lacy who put the whole thing together. Thanks to Kay and the many choir members who gave up their time not only for the event on Saturday, but also for attending rehearsals beforehand. Many thanks also to Curry’s/PC World, Quay Arts and The Man in the Moon for agreeing to let us do this on their premises.
“It was great fun and so rewarding to see how we were able put a smile on their customers faces as we sang our hearts out to raise funds for our chosen cause, as well as raising public awareness about our NHS campaign and the fight we have on our hands to ensure the safety of Islanders in terms of health care provision.”
Why the Flashmob?
The stunts were organised to raise awareness for the Wessex Cancer Trust’s Daisy Buus (Portsmouth) which takes Island cancer patients directly from Southsea to the hospital in Cosham for radiotherapy treatment.
Patients generally require daily treatments over at least four weeks and that alone can be debilitating and exhausting, even before the travel commitment is taken into account.
As reported by OnTheWight earlier this year, most of the funding is in place to keep the bus going until the end of the year, but a long-term sustainable solution to fund the bus needs to be found.
Christine says the group are
“Deeply concerned that without sufficient money the service will cease altogether and patients will have no option but to make their own way by public transport at a time when their health is already compromised by cancer.
“One such elderly patient that I know personally has recently spent £420 over four weeks for ferry travel for himself and his wife and on one occasion they had a potentially deadly experience due to the tiring and debilitating effects of his radiotherapy, combined with distance travel. On their return journey he actually fell asleep at the wheel of his car on their way back from Ryde to East Cowes.
“Fortunately he bumped into the pavement which woke him up so no harm was done but it doesn’t take much imagination to consider a far more serious outcome. Being forced to use public transport on the mainland would only compound this problem and has the potential to put more lives in danger as well as making it so much more hazardous to health and well-being. ”
As Christine says,
“We must always remember that Cancer is not selective and it can happen to any one of us and and we would like to thank all those who donated so generously.”
