POPPY APPEAL SALES GET OFF TO BRISK START ON BICENTENARY OF BIRTH OF 'LADY OF THE LAMP'

ATHERSTONE MP Craig Tracey has added an official seal of approval to a campaign to shine a light on the darkest corners of the fight to eradicate the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Tracey has put his weight behind the Blue Poppy Appeal, launched in the name of nursing revolutionary Florence Nightingale in the week the nation celebrates the bicentenary of her birth.

Town councillor Angie Spencer wants the town to head up a Florence Nightingale Benevolent Fund – to highlight the role of nurses and carers in the coronavirus fight by raising money for the NHS Charities Together campaign.

The Atherstone councillor is keen to develop a nationwide appeal with the proceeds going to families of frontline NHS workers who have lost their lives to Covid-19.

She began with a local 'shout out' to make blue poppies and was "staggered" with the response – when 900 came in.

Some 600 of those have been sewn into a giant net which now adorns the front of St Mary's Church in Atherstone – and will remain for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.

The other 300 went on sale on yesterday to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Nightingale's birth and International Nurses day.

Hygiene rules by the 'Lady with the Lamp' helped change hospitals the world over and has such deep relevance to today's global battle with the pandemic.

But few outside of Atherstone realise the part played by the town in changing the course of the pioneering nurse's celebrated life.

Put simply, without the encouragement and financial support of Atherstone Hall benefactors Charles and Selina Bracebridge there would likely have been no historic nightly patrols around wards of sick and wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War.

Councillor Spencer explains: "The Bracebridges funded her training and throughout the Crimean War.

"Without that money she would never have been able to achieve what she did. It was down to the Atherstone connection."

The North Warwickshire MP said he was "delighted" to support Cllr Spencer's launch, even though the original plans for the event had to be scaled back to meet Government guidelines.

He praised local NHS staff, adding: "I would like to pass on my sincere thanks to all nurses, particularly at our local hospitals, for the work they do – not just over the last few weeks – but in constantly looking after us all year round.

The MP said it wasn't for the Bracebrige family, who lived at Atherstone Hall and attended St Mary's Church, taking a young Florence Nightingale under their wing – then her passion for nursing may well have been snuffed out as her family were totally opposed to the idea.

Mr Tracey added: "Many years later when the Crimean War broke out, it was Selina and Charles Bracebridge who financed her to run the military hospital in Scutari, where she became renowned as a pioneer for improving hygiene and preventing the spread of diseases in hospitals.

"Move on 200 years and I am delighted to support local town councillor Angie Spencer at the launch of her "Blue Poppy Ap;peal" to raise money for the NHS Charities Together."

The sale of the 300 poppies got off to a brisk start outside St Mary's yesterday.

If you would like to make a donation and receive one of the remaining 'limited edition' poppies, please contact either Angie Spencer on 07974302910 or Yvonne Stone on 07380 966803.

Historians have praised Atherstone's most-famous adopted daughter – describing her legacy as being "never more relevant" amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Staff at the Florence Nightingale Museum in Westminster said her key nursing values – which focused on maintaining good hygiene, regularly washing hands and carrying out evidence-based practices – have been widely echoed over the past months.

She developed these habits during the Crimean War, where along with a small troupe of nurses, she tended soldiers' wounds and worked to improve hospital conditions at Scutari field hospital.

Last night the Houses of Parliament celebrated the bicentenary by having her image projected onto Guy's Hospital and St Thomas's Hospital.