Local People
101-Year-Old Local Gem, Keeps Walking for NHS Birthday!
Happy birthday NHS! You’re not as old as Joan, but she’s doing her bit to help you! You’ve all heard about this wonderful local gem who worked for the NHS and during lockdown has been walking for the NHS! Here’s an update on how she’s getting on and what inspires her to keep going…
Joan Rich was born in 1918, during World War One, when people wore gas masks. Later that year they wore masks of all kinds as protection from Spanish Flu. Years later, during World War Two Joan had her own gas mask which she took on her voluntary fire-watch duties in Ipswich, and on Army patrols in Nottingham. Now there are mask-wearers everywhere: on the streets, in shops, on public transport. Of course, doctors and nurses in hospitals have worn masks for years, but it’s not just specific NHS workers who wear them now, it’s all of them, whether in operating theatres, A&E departments, wards, reception areas, or when visiting patients in the community; all NHS and keyworkers wear masks. Hospital visitors wear them too. It’s now well-known that when Joan saw the ‘Love NHS’ symbol mown into the grass of Allenby Park in April, she said, ‘Even behind a mask, NHS workers can make you smile. Let’s all smile.’
Having an NHS should give us all something to smile about. There was no NHS for the first thirty years of Joan’s life. She remembers families who couldn’t afford medical treatment. Friends did what they could, and sometimes charities helped too, but often it wasn’t enough. People suffered and died prematurely, many of them in poverty. Joan scrimped on coal so she could leave some, anonymously, on the doorstep of needy, but proud, elderly neighbours. Joan also left vegetables from the grocery stall where she worked, near Ipswich Town Hall.
In later years Joan did her bit as an NHS worker, first in Hillingdon Hospital in the 1950s, then in Felixstowe General Hospital as an auxiliary nurse in the outpatient department from 1964 until her retirement in 1978. If she had been able to, Joan would have come out of retirement to help the NHS care for Covid-19 patients. But, in her own way, she is still working for the NHS. Forty-two years after leaving Felixstowe General Hospital Joan is walking round Allenby Park to raise money for them. She remembers going there to retrieve patients who had gone to sit in the cool and calm of the park, and now she is on duty again. This time there are no patients to gather, just birds singing, children playing, dog walkers with their beasties, picnickers relaxing on the grass, footballers, and friendly neighbours too. Sometimes there are even people wearing masks.
Joan is walking the pathways of Allenby Park 102 times before her 102nd birthday.
She is grateful to everyone who has made a donation so far, or coloured and displayed ‘KEEP ON WALKING’ posters, anyone who has promoted her challenge, and to all those who have waved as she walks round.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NHS! Keep smiling.
You can donate to help Joan raise money at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Diane-Rich1
This lovely Felixstowe lady, Nina Danells, tells us how she started litter-picking and why her family loved to get involved too...
Myself, hubby to be Gav and son Tobe’s are all outdoors people. We love to camp and taking walks in our beautiful countryside. Taking good care of it anyway we can is a big thing for us. Whether it’s simply recycling at home or reusing items so not to buy again or using plastic free products to help the environment. We heard about Litter-Free Felixstowe from fellow committee member Sue Lewis, of 356 Felixstowe Air Cadets. Sue told us that she had joined up and while talking with Sue she explained that because my son, Tobes, is a cadet at 356 Air Cadets and currently doing his Duke of Edinburgh Award with them that the litter pick would also go towards the volunteer part of it. So for my son there was a double reason to do the litter pick, but for myself and Gav it would be another excuse for a family walk in our local area and the bonus of being able to help clean it up a little.
We went to Trimley foreshore and within 25 minutes we had collected over 6kg of rubbish! This included anything from disposal BBQ’s, glass bottles, toilet rolls, underwear and even needles.
There were two areas where it was clear it had become somewhat a playground and the fun thing to do is to stand at the top of the foreshore cliff and throw glass bottles down onto the stones to smash. I made sure I took pictures of this location so to warn others and dog walkers like ourselves to be mindful.
Being part of this Litter-Free Felixstowe group is wonderful and I would encourage anyone young or old to join in, as it really has brought the community together and is hopefully making people stop and think before dropping their litter as the group has become more public.
While we were on the foreshore we received quite a few positive comments from passers-by such as “thanks for doing this”. So already we hope these people are talking about it and pass it on. The way our family sees it, is wherever you go if you bring it with you then you take it home with you too. It really is that simple.
A Family of Litter-Pickers
Scarecrow Festival: 25th July 2020
Local Book Launch: Myth and Mischief in Allenby Park
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