A group of nurses and former nursing staff will hold their annual reunion dinner at a specialist residential college which was founded by pioneering nurse Dame Agnes Hunt back in 1927.
The League of Oswestry Nurses will be holding their annual reunion dinner at Derwen College, in Gobowen, near Oswestry, on 12th May.
The group’s 53rd annual event will be held in The Orangery Restaurant at the further education college for young adults with learning difficulties and disabilities. It is the first time that the League have met at the college’s historic restaurant.
The venue is particularly fitting as Derwen College’s founder was herself a forward-thinking nurse. Dame Agnes Hunt was an orthopaedic nurse who set up Derwen College 91 years ago with the aim of bringing increased independence and work skills to people with disabilities.
With the help of top surgeon Robert Jones, she also formed what is now the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt (RJAH) Orthopaedic Hospital, one of the most highly regarded centres of its kind in the country.
The League of Oswestry Nurses was formed from nurses who trained at this world-renowned facility. Its original membership was around 100 former students, with the first annual reunion held on 26 June 1964. In later years, membership was extended to include nurses working at the hospital who had trained elsewhere. Members are now spread across the world.
League of Oswestry Nurses General Secretary Sheila Hughes said it was the first year that the League have chosen to meet at Derwen College, and that it seemed the ideal venue.
She said: “Because of the close association between the Orthopaedic Hospital and Derwen, we collaborated with the college during their 90th birthday year in 2017 and were impressed when we saw the facilities on offer in the historic Orangery Restaurant.
“The venue is just on the doorstep of the Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Hospital and has a wonderful connection with the hospital through Dame Agnes Hunt.
“The lunch at Derwen College also gives us an opportunity to view archive materials on Dame Agnes Hunt, nurse and co-founder of the orthopaedic and founder of Derwen College.”
Between 60 and 100 former nurses are expected to attend the one-day event which includes an Annual General Meeting and presentation by Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Miss Gillian Cribb at RJAH Hospital, before the reunion dinner at Derwen.
