St Dunstan's Llandudno Centre boosted by £2.6 million donation
09 Mar 11
St Dunstan’s has received a generous donation of £2.6 million from The Royal British Legion which will go towards a high dependency unit at its Llandudno Centre.
The specialist unit will be named the Poppy Wing, in recognition of The Royal British Legion’s generosity, and will enable St Dunstan’s to provide the highest quality services for beneficiaries with serious medical needs from Wales and the North West of England. Equipped with ten high dependency beds, as well as a rehabilitation sports gym, arts and crafts room and training kitchen, the new facility will enable St Dunstan’s to help even more ex-Service men and women to discover a life beyond blindness.
The Royal British Legion, which celebrates its 90th Anniversary this year, has made the donation as part of its ongoing commitment to the welfare, interests and memory of the Armed Forces Family.
The creation of the Poppy Wing forms part of a wider renovation and expansion project which is currently underway at the site of the former North Wales Medical Centre. The new Centre will provide bespoke rehabilitation and training from St Dunstan’s highly trained staff, who will be recruited over the coming months ahead of the Centre’s opening later this year.
Robert Leader, Chief Executive of St Dunstan’s, said: “We are honoured to accept this donation from The Royal British Legion, which will enable us to build a high dependency unit with ten beds at our Llandudno Centre. The unit is essential to ensure St Dunstan’s can continue in its mission to enable blind ex-Service personnel to live independent, full lives, and it will be named the Poppy Wing as a mark of our appreciation. This is a wonderful example of organisations working together to ensure that our brave troops receive the help they urgently need to cope with the challenges of blindness and other injuries, especially at a time when men and women are returning from current conflict wounded every day.”
The Royal British Legion Director General, Chris Simpkins, said: "It is with great pleasure that the Legion has made a £2.6million donation to fund a high dependency unit at St Dunstan’s new Llandudno Centre. The Legion has taken care of Serving and ex-Service people and their families for 90 years and continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with all who Serve. It's an honour to support the fantastic work of St Dunstan's through our external grants and we are delighted that the new unit will be named the Poppy Wing, in recognition of our donation. The new Poppy Wing will be an important addition to the Llandudno Centre, which opens later this year, and where St Dunstan’s will carry out its world class rehabilitation and training enabling blind veterans to overcome the challenges of sudden sight loss."
Mike Greenwood, North Wales County Manager for The Legion and Alan Cathery, its’ North Wales District Chairman, were joined by the Mayor Cllr of Llandudno for a special viewing of the Poppy Wing’s construction progress.
St Dunstan’s continually needs to raise funds so that it can continue to support blind and visually impaired ex-Service personnel for life. To make a donation, please call 0300 111 22 33. To enquire about recruitment for the St Dunstan’s Llandudno Centre please visit www.supertemps.co.uk
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For more information please contact:
St Dunstan’s
Bhakti Chauhan
Tel: 0207 616 7912, mob: 07595 551 389, email: Bhakti.Chauhan@st-dunstans.org.uk
Andy Shaw:
Tel: 0207 010 0806, mob: 07515 005112, email: Andy.Shaw@kindredagency.com
Jessica Green:
Tel: 0207 010 0802, mob: 07905 000 122, email: Jessica.Green@kindredagency.com
The Royal British Legion
Afsheen Latif:
Tel: 020 3207 2243, mob: 07901 110 819, email: alatif@britishlegion.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
St Dunstan’s
• St Dunstan’s, established in 1915, is the national charity providing lifelong support and rehabilitation to blind ex-Service men and women
• St Dunstan’s promotes and enables beneficiaries to regain their independence, meet new challenges and achieve a better quality of life
• St Dunstan’s supports anyone who has served in the Forces who has lost their sight due to war, age, accident or illness and the charity’s duty of care extends to all beneficiaries and their families for life
• St Dunstan’s is a centre of excellence for welfare support, rehabilitation, training, respite and nursing care for blind ex-Service men and women
• The St Dunstan’s Llandudno Centre has received funding from Help for Heroes, The Royal British Legion and represents a major collaboration of military charities coming together in support of our Armed Forces
The Royal British Legion
• The Royal British Legion is the UK’s most effective campaigner on behalf of the Armed Forces Family
• This year alone the Legion will spend more than £72 million providing assistance to over 160,000 Serving and ex-Serving Armed Forces personnel and their families, providing housing, employment, and financial assistance to those who have served
• The Legion spends more than £200,000 a day or £1.4 million a week delivering its vital welfare work and support to current and ex-Service personnel and their families
• The Royal British Legion is proud to celebrate its 90th Anniversary in 2011 and aims to raise £90 million to stand shoulder to shoulder with all who serve
• In its 90th year, the Legion’s work is crucial to helping the “Afghan generation” of the Armed Forces family
Beneficiary John Robinson outside the new Poppy Wing at the St Dunstan's Llandudno Centre