Meet Ros, a Former Black Country Nurse who has helped raise millions of pounds and still fundraising after 40 years doing so.
Roslyne Bratt-Wyton, former Senior Nurse at Russells Hall Hospital. She started fundraising 40 years ago to help cancer treatment in the Black Country and it ended up with us having the Georgina Unit and the fundraising continues.
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00:00So we're just here with Ros in Cowsley and Ros there's a few cut-ins on the board behind you.
00:06You've had quite a busy life. Just fill us in on what your day job was first. You were a nurse.
00:12Yes, I was a nurse. I started my nursing career at Dudley Guest Hospital and then moved to Burton
00:22Road and then moved to Russell's Hall when it opened. When Russell's Hall opened I was
00:32a nurse on an acute medical ward and I was having also the leukaemia patients but unfortunately
00:42we hadn't got the facilities that we needed for the patients at the time. So we started
00:48fundraising from day one of moving into Russell's Hall to get their equipment and the
00:58things that we thought that we would need for our patients. Yeah, so it's 40 years isn't it
01:04of fundraising? 40 years of fundraising, yes. That's just crazy isn't it really?
01:10From fundraising to alter the ward to then going on to fundraise for a proper unit.
01:20Yeah and you did eventually get that unit didn't you? Which was 26 years ago. Yeah,
01:25is that the Georgina unit? Georgina unit at Russell's Hall Hospital and so it cost us 1.1
01:37million pounds. Yeah. And that took us quite a while to fundraise for because it was a time of
01:44recession within Dudley and Starbridge where you had got all the cutbacks in the local industry
01:54but we managed it and we got there in the end. Was that when Ian Botham came to open it? He did.
02:00How did that come about then? Who got his number to hand?
02:06Ian did a lot of fundraising for leukaemia research and so when we were opening the
02:18Georgina unit I thought who could we get to open that? So yeah. So there's a lot of people that
02:25are kind of in job roles and they think well where I work this could do with this and this
02:31could do with money but they don't actually get up and do anything about it necessarily.
02:36So where did this energy come from, this spark that I'm going to be the one, I'm going to change
02:41this you know? Well do I sit around and accept things as they are or do I go out and actually
02:52do something and change and get what I want for the patients? Yeah. And that was the drive really
03:00you know, what do the patients need, what do the patients want and so that's what the 40 years
03:07have been about. And there's a Georgina charity shop as well is that right? A Georgina unit? We
03:13have two charity shops, one at Upper Gornwall and one at Tipton and Pauline Jenkins set those up
03:26and runs those and they've been a real earner for us in the way of developing the charity.
03:37So we've been looking through the archives, there's one or two cuttings isn't there?
03:42Some of the events you've done over the years that come to mind, go on run through some of
03:47the quirky things you've done. Oh quirky things, bed pushes, we've played rugby a couple of
03:55times against Dudley and King Swinford making the lads play in wellies and then we've done
04:04the raft races, we've done... What about your jam jar thing? Oh yeah, so I've done the jam jars and
04:17over the last 15, 20 years and those have raised over £20,000 and that's for our pennies. And
04:27that's simply encouraging people to put some pennies in a jam jar and bump £25,000 comes of
04:33it, fantastic. So that's all helped and you know, as I say, the mayors of Dudley have always been
04:43very supportive in our endeavours in what we actually do. So you have a ball as well?
04:53We've had several balls over the 40 years and so we've had fun as well and the patients have
05:01enjoyed it, you know, as well as the staff in taking part and making a difference. And you're still
05:09in touch with some of the patients aren't you? There was a young girl on one of the pictures we
05:13got down there, a young Michelle and you were saying she's in touch now and that was many, many
05:18years ago you first met her. Oh yes, I've had a lot of patients that are still in touch over the 40 years.
05:24Yeah, so well it's, you know, they become your friends. Yeah. You know, in a way they become your
05:32extended family. Yeah. You know, because you know, you're such a part of their life when they're
05:40they're going through treatment. Yeah. And it's important. So when did you step down from working
05:47as a nurse on the ward for us? 12 years ago. Yeah. I should imagine that was quite a hard decision
05:53to make at the time. You were, you know, so much of your life was invested and worked
05:59around it. Was it quite difficult to kind of get to that day and think I'm going? That's it, you get
06:06to a stage where you think it's time. Yeah. You know, and that's it. So you were, you just
06:17make the decision. Yeah. And for 40 years of fundraising, have you ever tried to put a
06:24figure on what you've raised? Well we've tried to look at it. Ian Pearson, Lord Dudley,
06:34asked me not long ago and so we tried to put a figure on it and we reckon that we've raised over
06:4010 million pounds. That's crazy, isn't it? Well you think of all the things that we've achieved
06:47for the patients. Yeah. You know, the unit and one of the latest greatest things that we've
06:53achieved is chemotherapy at home for patients. Okay. And during the pandemic that really saved
07:00patients' lives. So even now you're still trying to help and do your bit, yeah? Oh yes, because we
07:07want to expand chemotherapy at home. Yeah. That's with the hospital board at the moment. Yeah. So
07:13we're hoping to take that forward and we need some more changes to the units, more isolation rooms.
07:20Yeah. Because that's one of the things the pandemic really showed was that we hadn't got
07:26enough isolation rooms. Yeah. So again, the plans for that are with the hospital board.
07:34So that's what we're fundraising for at the moment. Any particular highlights for yourself
07:39over the years? I mean you were given the Merrill Award the one year. Anything come to mind as it
07:44stands out there was a very proud, you know, moment for yourself? I'm sure there's been many.
07:49The house actually, I mean. I was awarded the Dudley Merrill Award for
08:0120-something years ago. Yeah. And I also got the Nursing Cancer Nurse of the Year Award in 98.
08:14Oh wow. And you know, it's, you know, it's sometimes it's not the big things like that.
08:25Yeah. It's a little thing. Like there wasn't anywhere for day case patients to receive their
08:34therapy. So I moaned so much they gave me an office. Yeah. Which became this cupboard.
08:44And so we started day case there. Yeah. And then opening the big day case unit was absolutely
08:53amazing. Yeah. You know, and I was also lucky to be awarded the
09:02West Midland Travel Scholarship. And I was able to go to New York to the big cancer hospital in
09:10New York, the Memorial Sloan Kettering. Yeah. To have a look and see how they treated day case
09:17patients there, cancer day case patients. Yeah. So when you kind of, do you ever, you know,
09:24reflect back and you must be very proud of yourself of what you've done. I mean, just,
09:29you know, a nurse in her career should look back and be proud. But on top of this, all this extra
09:34stuff, do you kind of, do you give yourself some time to give yourself a bit the credit that it's
09:40deserved? Well, sometimes with my nurses, especially because I'm still involved in
09:49nursing scholarships for cancer nurses at Russell's Hall Hospital. And yes, when I see how
09:58their careers have developed. Yeah. You know, that's utterly amazing. You know, several of
10:04them are consultant nurses now or they're nurse specialists, you know, and the scholarships,
10:13I think are one of my proudest things that I've developed for nursing staff. Yeah. Well, Ros,
10:20anything else you'd like to add to our little chat? You've done so much over the years. I mean,
10:26frankly, I'm exhausted just looking at the pictures of what you've done, let alone being
10:30the one that organises it. Yeah. I suppose one of the other things I'm proud of is I instigated
10:38and thought about the first nursing book on nursing in the haematological malignancies.
10:49And so I think that was quite a proud moment to see the book, you know, that had been printed.
10:56And I went to Australia to give a lecture. Yeah. And to see the book on the shelf in Australia,
11:09that was quite a moment. Yeah. And you think, well, I did that. I've made me mark. Yeah,
11:18that's it exactly. Yeah. Well, Ros, just on behalf of the Expression Star and on behalf of everyone
11:24in the black country, really, thank you ever so much for all the work you have done and continue
11:28to do for us all. Thank you, Ros.