The Countess of Wessex was announced as the new patron of the Love Musgrove charity following a visit to the Musgrove Park Hospital on Tuesday.
Sophie was in Taunton to celebrate the opening of a new MRI suite after the hospital’s charities and the local community helped fundraise the £1 million required for it. She had previously visited the hospital in March 2018 during her time as the hospital’s MRI Million Campaign.
The charity appeal brought in the third MRI scanner, and Sophie visited on Tuesday to open the new MRI suite and meet with staff and patients at the hospital.
“Having The Countess of Wessex’s continued support through her patronage of Love Musgrove is a great boost for the charity and its vital work in supporting the patients and staff at our hospital,” said Brian Perowne, Chair of Love Musgrove.
Love Musgrove is a charity that “funds things above and beyond what the NHS covers,” according to its official website.
“We help to create a comfortable, engaging environment for patients that also supports their family and friends.”
Some of the projects Love Musgrove has funded include staff training, development opportunities, purchasing “state of the art equipment” and providing items for patients to make their stays “comfortable and help ensure a more pleasant environment for all.”
Speaking to the Somerset County Gazette, Colin Drummond, the Chairman of the Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust said that “We were delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex back to Musgrove Park Hospital so we could show her first hand all of the huge benefits our new MRI scanner will have for our patients.”
Sophie unveiled a plaque to commemorate her visit and opened the Respite Activity Sessions for The Archie Project, a local intergenerational dementia project that hosted by Reminiscence Learning that “links local primary schools, care homes/ sheltered housing schemes, businesses/ services and community members to ultimately dispel the fear and stigma often associated with dementia and create more dementia-friendly communities,” per its official website.
On their Facebook page, Reminiscence Learning wrote, “Her Royal Highness was most charming, kind and generous with her time. She was most complimentary about our charity and particularly enjoyed the singing and the opportunity to chat to everyone.”
