Hearty congratulations to our friends at the medical charity,
Aid to Hospitals Worldwide, based like us, in Bury St
Edmunds, Suffolk. They have just been named as the most innovative new programme at the East of England Business in the Community Awards for Excellence, sponsored by
Anglian Water.
Set up by Mike Coleman about 5 years ago
A2HW (as the are most often called) collect a whole range of surplus medical equipment, ranging from beds and wheelchairs to surgical instruments, microscopes, bandages and dressings and even kidney
dialysis machines and other major pieces of kit from the
NHS, private hospitals
and other sources. They refurbish and dispatch this equipment to those in need all over the world.
Although they have only been operating for a short period of time the work has grown so much that they now need to find much bigger premises than the building they currently occupy on the site of the old hospital laundry in Bury St
Edmunds.
Not only does the work of
A2HW benefit people in other countries where medical facilities are limited and there is not the funding to buy such equipment, but it also saves the British tax payer a lot of money too. Every year the National Health service spends millions of pounds on landfill tax to dispose of equipment that is still perfectly functional but is either out dated or surplus to requirements.
As a charity we have reason to be grateful to
Aid to Hospitals Worldwide for the help that they have given to us. They have supplied us with a number of computers for education and missionary projects in the
Philippines that we support. They have also provided us with wheelchairs, mobility aids, a
nebuliser and first aid equipment for a school for children with disabilities. We know that they do a brilliant job and we are absolutely delighted that they are receiving recognition for their hard work.