THE trustees of the League of Friends of Thornbury Hospital celebrated their 50th anniversary at a lunch last Thursday.

Present and retired trustees were present to hear chairman Neil Halsall thank all those who have worked so hard over the 50 years to provide many facilities for the hospital and the patients.

Rosemary Mellor, from the Avon League of Friends, proposed a vote of thanks and said: "I'm sure that you will continue the good work for another 50 years!"

The first meeting of the league was in December 1853 at the The Chantry, when it was still a private residence owned by the first chairman Mrs P Davidson. The second and subsequent meetings have been held on the hospital site - for many years in the committee room and chapel on the site of the old Thornbury Workhouse, which has now been renovated and turned into private homes.

Treasurer Clive Parkinson said: Sadly many of the stalwarts from the early years are no longer with us.

"However, Mrs N Ayres, who was matron in 1953 and attended most meetings for 20 years from 1954, is still alive and living in Weston-Super-Mare."

He said no review of the league's 50 year existence would be complete without recording the enormous dept of gratitude the friends owed to Doris Gibbon who took over from Mrs Davidson in 1960 as chairman and then president for over 35 years.

The league exists to provide help and support to the patients at Thornbury Hospital. This is achieved by funding new facilities and by providing services for patients such as daily newspapers, flowers in the ward, and a weekly trolley service.

New facilities provided by the league recently include 24 new beds for Henderson Ward, automatic opening/closing doors for the outpatient department, bed sensors for Grace Ward, and redecoration of various wards.

The league's plans for the coming year include improvements to the gardens to facilitate its use for therapy and relaxation, new equipment to assist patients in getting back into the community, therapy materials to assist recuperation and redecoration of parts of Grace Ward to provide a more homely atmosphere.

"None of this can be achieved without the continuing generous financial and other support given by so many people in the local community to the League of Friends of Thornbury Hospital," said Mr Parkinson.

The league's annual fete is in the hospital grounds on Thursday (1.30pm) with dancing by Crossway Infants School and the grand raffle draw (3pm).

People are also welcome to join the friends at their summer supper on July 1 (7pm). Details and tickets from Joan Tuck on 01454 413597.