- Stroud Hospitals League of Friends was formed in 1948 at the inception of the NHS. It is volunteer led and develops, enhances and protects services, principally through refurbishment, and the provision of state-of-the-art equipment which would not otherwise be provided by the NHS. It played a significant role in building of the theatre and the development of the endoscopy service, along with advances to many other clinical areas.
- In recent years we have helped fund the refurbishment of Cashes Green and Jubilee Wards and a major renovation of the Minor Injuries and Illness Unit. Our contributions have enabled these projects to be completed and equipped to a much higher standard than normal, and in total our support for these has been £845,000.
- As of November 2026 we have initiated a pilot grant scheme for Stroud Hospital, Stroud Maternity Unit, Weavers Croft and Park House, with an allocation for each to give staff more autonomy. They are constrained only by the criteria of ‘Patient Enhancement ‘ or ‘Staff retention and well-being’. The total grant for the four establishments is £53,000. We will still fund the ‘big ticket’ items there.
- Recently at Stroud Maternity Unit we funded the refurbishment and redecoration of the ward area and adjacent conservatory, and over the years have contributed significantly to equipment.
- Most notably at the Maternity Unit we fund a wide range of professionally led perinatal groups such as yoga, singing, and infant sleep (9 in total), free to all. This provision is recognised by the local NHS Trust to be an exemplar of best practice and a model to be aimed for by other maternity units. As far as we can establish Stroud Maternity Unit is unique in the country for its range of this additional support. Such activity has contributed to the recent CQC rating of ‘Good’.
- We also support healthcare in the local community by funding community led health care.
For example:
- Horsfall House in Minchinhampton, where, since 2019, we have funded free respite care to anyone registered with the local GP practices. This is the equivalent of annually a year of bed nights.
- Since 2020 we have funded ‘Hope for Tomorrow’ which provides chemotherapy and other cancer treatments, with us covering the cost of the one day a week mobile unit visit to Stroud Hospital.
- Initially in response to the Covid pandemic, we supported smaller local charities and in 2020 we granted a total of £143,296 to 14 local health providers and made a further two tranches in 2021 and 2024, totalling an additional £121,800. This is £265,096 in total for local service provision.
- Most recently The League has been supporting Longfield Community Hospice and has agreed to a £90,000 grant for 2025 and further £90,000 for each of the next two financial years. The funds will support the provision of their ‘Hospice at Home’ nursing care for residents in the Stroud and related
Our total spend over the last 8 years alone on refurbishments, equipment and services has been well over £2million, with more major planned spending in the immediate pipeline, not yet public