MORE than 80 nurses are expected to attend a reunion next weekend.

Members of Shotley Bridge Hospital Nurses’ League will hold their 42nd anniversary reunion in Consett Civic Centre from 2.30pm on Saturday, April 25.

The group used to raise money for the County Durham hospital and, over the years, their efforts paid for furnishings, bedside telephones and the construction of two flats to accommodate people travelling from long distances to visit friends and relatives in hospital.

They also gave Christmas presents to patients.

Nurse Liz Pitt, who is helping to organise the reunion, said: “We belonged to that hospital and the patients belonged to us. We wanted to care for them that bit more.”

The league no longer raises money for patients, but more than 80 former nurses from the hospital are expected to attend the reunion, travelling from across the country.

Mrs Pitt, 60, who now works as a nurse at the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City, said: “We had a great camaraderie, which we were privileged to have, and we wanted to keep that going.”

To attend, call Mrs Pitt on 01207-235102 or Elsie Fairlamb on 01207-590498.