Richard is hospital Friends patron

blackmorevaleApril 22, 20210 Comment0

Richard Hunt, the chairman of Hunt’s Foodservice, will be Patron of the Friends of the Yeatman Hospital in the organisation’s 70th anniversary year.

David Hayes, chairman of the Friends of Yeatman Hospital charity, said: “We are particularly delighted that Richard, whose family connections with the Friends date back to the founding meeting of our charity, which both his family and business have supported for the past 70 years.

“The Hunt name is synonymous with Sherborne having been a major employer in the town for more than 100 years, so it is natural we should invite him to lead our celebrations during the important anniversary year which starts on July 26. Richard’s role will be to ensure that during this difficult period we respect the both the hospital and the town in all that we do.”

“The Yeatman Hospital is central to the support of our community of Sherborne and its outlying villages. It has served us and our predecessors loyally through some challenging episodes in our recent history, and particularly throughout the pandemic. The Friends 70th Anniversary is an ideal time to celebrate its history while looking towards its future with confidence. All of that makes it all the more appropriate that we should welcome Mr Richard Hunt whose family is so representative of Sherborne’s more recent history, as our 70th anniversary patron.”

Mr Hunt said: “For all the years I can remember my family and I, have supported the Friends of the Yeatman Hospital the way they supported my mother when I was born at the hospital back in the 1960s, so when asked to be the patron of the 70th anniversary celebration I could not say no. The core approach to the Friends’ anniversary programme is to say thank you to and to invite support and cooperation so the people of Sherborne can participate. We shall achieve this by reaching out to everyone who have supported us. Discussions have been held with Sherborne Town Council, the Chamber of Trade, Rotary and schools and volunteer groups to use the anniversary to take their minds off the pandemic and enjoy a good news year.”