YOUNGSTERS from a Pershore school took a step back in time to learn more about how Florence Nightingale helped fund a town hospital.
Little learners from Holy Redeemer Catholic Primary School joined residents at Nightingale Lodge to bury a time capsule in celebration of its links to the founder of modern nursing.
The event was held as part of Churchill Retirement Living’s unveiling of its new Nightingale Lodge retirement complex on Defford Road.
Nightingale Lodge is situated on the site of the former Pershore Cottage Hospital, which Florence Nightingale helped to raise funds for in 1885, as well as playing a part in the design and build of the new hospital.
She came to prominence while serving as a manager of nurses trained by her during the Crimean War, where she organised the tending to wounded soldiers.
Nightingale gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture particularly for how she tended to wounded soldiers at night.
The children filled the capsule with drawings and poems about the ‘Lady with the Lamp’.
Bee Sanders, Year 1 class teacher at Holy Redeemer Catholic Primary School, said: “This has been a fun project for the class to get involved in and a wonderful opportunity for the children to celebrate the local history of their home town.
“We’re very grateful to Churchill Retirement Living for organising the visit and all of the pupils worked very hard on their creations for the time capsule, which I’m sure our descendants will have a lot of enjoyment looking through one day.”
Tracy Evans, regional marketing executive at Churchill Retirement Living, said: “The lodge’s residents enjoyed talking with the pupils and hearing all about what they’ve learnt about Florence Nightingale at school, and we hope that some of the same children can return with their own families one day to see the capsule dug up.”
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isit www.churchillretirement.co.uk for more information.
