Grateful pub doorman treats stroke ward nurses to a day at the seaside

A score of nurses from Wexham Park Hospital were treated to a trip to the seaside courtesy of the grateful doorman of the Maiden’s Head pub.

Ian Mills has worked at the pub for 11 years. This year, his brother Stephen developed a brain tumour that grew, causing a stroke, followed by another stroke two days later.

Though at first Stephen showed some improvement, after seven weeks he took a turn for the worse.

His food and water were stopped, moving onto end-of-life care. Stephen passed away three days later, on June 28, a day before his 72nd birthday.

Over the course of those seven weeks, Ian basically spent all his time either at work or the hospital.

“I spent the majority of the days with the nurses,” he said. “We [Stephen’s family] saw what the nurses had to do – the amount of work they do, unthanked by many people. I decided that they needed something back.”

There are rules against giving money to nurses directly, so instead Ian approached the hospital to ask what he could gift them.

The nurses opted for a coffee machine – and Ian got them one worth £250, using donations from punters at the Maiden’s Head.

Because the nurses were ‘worried about the price of the coffee pods,’ Ian also rustled up hundreds of pods for them too.

In the pub, Ian set up an area where people could come and learn about Stephen’s care, the stroke ward at Wexham Park Hospital, and its nurses.

In September, the pub reported that this had collected £1,550.

^{Ian with nurse in charge, Gladys, alongside gifts for the nurses and a picture of Stephen.}

“We didn’t know how people would respond – it was amazing,” Ian said. “The money kept coming in.

“The generosity of some people is just unbelievable. People would say, ‘There you go, here’s £20, here’s £50.”

“The staff at the Maiden’s Head were great as well,” Ian added. “If people didn’t have cash on them, Wayne [Fenton, general manager] said “We’ll do cash back if you want.”

So successful was the collection, Ian had far more money than he needed simply for a coffee machine and some pods – and went back to the hardworking nurses.

“I said to them, ‘What [else] would you like?’ and they said, ‘We would love a day out.’”

In line with their wishes, Ian laid on a trip to West Wittering for the stroke ward nurses, paying for the coach and their meals.

“They had a great day,” he said. “Since then, I’ve been topping up the coffee [pods] here and there to keep them going.”

Ian thinks it would be nice to round things off with a Christmas party for the nurses – or lend support for whatever festivities they might be planning.

“It’s all in the memory of my brother, purely to say a heartfelt thank you to the nurses for looking after him,” Ian said.

“I was fortunate enough – or unfortunate – to be in a position to see the amount of work nurses do. They deserve this.”