We are incredibly grateful and proud of the amazing fundraising Mandy has done for our Dunkery Ward, and the difference it will make for family members visiting the unit.
In the early hours of Christmas Day 2023, Mandy Brightman was given the devastating news that there was nothing more doctors could do for her mum.
Mandy’s mum, Sue, was brought into hospital with a bleed on her brain and was being cared for on the Dunkery stroke unit at Musgrove Park Hospital when she sadly died. With no suitable relatives’ rooms on the ward at that time, Mandy and her sister, Jo, received the upsetting news in, what could only be described as, an unused Janitor’s closet-come-office.
“At 1am on Christmas morning we were called into a meeting with a doctor, who told us the news. I remember the room vividly as it was at the entrance to the ward and was clearly not being used for anything. It simply had a single plastic chair and a rusty old fridge in it, and it felt an awful place to hear the news about mum. As I came out of that room, I remember speaking to a nurse called Jess, and I said to her that I’m going to fundraise for a new room for you – and we did!”
Mandy received incredible fundraising support from family and friends attending Sue’s funeral, raising an initial £1,000. Then, from the Wellington-based John Walker’s JW3 Band, who helped to hold a music concert, adding £700 to the total. The Milverton Music Club dedicated a whole evening to the cause, and clients of Aubrey House also donated.
“Other fundraising activities ranged from a group of retired employees of the old electricity board donating from their raffles and the West Somerset Singers who mum sang with donating from one of their concerts, to customers at my own hairdressers giving money and 10 Radio advertising all the events for us too.”
With the wonderful support and generosity of all these fundraisers, they raised an outstanding £5,500 in five months, and the new Relative’s Room opened at the end of May. Some homey touches were also added thanks to the kind donation from Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s ‘Art for Life’ programme, and beautiful artwork from Tess Armitage.
Mandy truly has accomplished an incredible thing, offering a place of peace and privacy for grieving relatives. “Mum had done so much for so many in her lifetime, so this room will be her legacy which will hopefully help people to find comfort during difficult times.”
