Thank you to the NHS

The idea to say Thank You to the NHS was born during the Covid lockdown, when, like so many others, Thanet Wanderers Rugby Club wanted to show their appreciation.

During the club’s virtual fundraising at the time, Thanet Wanderers and Paul Keohane Sports Fund committed to having a lunch to thank the NHS. While the pandemic has somewhat passed and we begin to live with Covid, we were reminded that the work of the NHS will continue to serve us and treat our members. To engage the junior members of the club, we held a competition to design a rugby shirt to mark the occasion. We had many entries, which reflected the high esteem the NHS has even with our youngest members and players.

On the 29th of October, the club was pleased to host over 40 members of the NHS for a pre-match lunch at the club. Joining the lunch was the winner of the NHS shirt competition, Tomas Hamil, and his family, Doug Hursey, Kent RFU President, and members of the club. Our thanks go to the Paul Keohane Sports fund which sponsored the event. Proceedings were kicked off with drinks at the bar followed by an opening speech of welcome from Thanet President Colin Whiteley. Colin was able to take us back to his experiences prior to the formation of the NHS and highlight the differences the NHS made to the lives of the people at the time.

Doug Hursey entertained our guests with a fine speech during lunch, with a mixture of Rugby and NHS stories. The discussions during lunch focused on the work the NHS does, particularly in mental health, which continues to be a key priority across sports clubs in the young and old. It was also good to be able to inform our guests of the club’s history and the work we do in the community with our school hub and rugby for youngsters with special needs and disabilities, the SEND hub.

After the main course club Chairman, Chris Panteli, and Tomas Hamil presented Dee Neligan, Senior Projects officer from the East Kent Hospitals Charity, with a framed Thanet Wanderers NHS shirt to mark the occasion. The shirt will be displayed at the QEQM hospital to mark the club’s appreciation for the NHS and the hard work they carry out to keep us in good health.

A raffle was held during lunch and the match against Charlton Park, raising £1000 that will be donated to the East Kent Hospitals Charity. Thanks go to Kelly Smith and her team who provided an excellent lunch and organised the raffle. Apart from losing our match, this was a great day to remember and extends the club’s reach into the community.

Thanks to Peter Ruranski who organised the lunch and made it a special day for all involved.

Written by Chris Panteli, Club Chairman

09 November 2022