History of the Wingfield League
The League of the Wingfield Hospital Nurses, as it was initially called, was inaugurated in 1955. Prior to this there had been a Nurses Prize Giving event combined with an Annual Reunion for nurses who had trained at the hospital. The Matron at the time, Miss Mary Powell, decided that this arrangement was unsatisfactory as the combined event did not allow either group to benefit from, or fully enjoy the day.
Miss Powell proposed that the solution was to organise a League of Nurses which would ‘go on into perpetuity, regardless of the individuals, and which would continue not only in our life time, but in that of generations of Wingfield Nurses yet to come’.
The first Annual General meeting was convened on June 4th 1955. The requirement for joining the League at the time was ‘any member of the Professional Staff, other than Wingfield Trainees, would be eligible to join the League provided they had completed two years in the service of the hospital’ thereby opening membership to professions other than nursing. A Radiographer, Physiotherapist and an After Care Sister were amongst the first members and the total membership in the first year rose to 189 and continued to rise steadily in the following years. Membership was later extended ‘to persons whose length of service to the Hospital renders then, in the opinion of the Executive Committee, eligible for honorary membership’.
In 1972 several changes to the constitution were agreed including changing the name of the association to the Wingfield League, the name which is still in use today. Membership was extended to included ‘any persons with 2 years service to the hospital’ thus enabling any member of the hospital team to become a member. Membership continued to rise steadily and at one point was around 700, with members spread across the world.
An Annual General Meeting and Reunion has been held every year (bar one) since the start of the League, usually at the end of April. A magazine carrying the report of the AGM has been published and circulated to all members of the League since the very beginning, paid for by their subscription. However in 2007 it was decided that the cost of this exceeded the subscription rates and members were given the option to pay for their magazine or to receive a news letter instead. In 2008 plans were agreed to also include circulating the Newsletter electronically.
Jenny Booth 2008.