WHAT a wonderful occasion when last week Betty Yates dug the first sod to mark the start of the new build for Savernake Hospital.

How many of us had times of doubt that this would ever come to fruition?

Thanks are due in part to various groups, at the start SHIFT and more recently SACSA working with The Friends and the Trusts on site but more importantly the local people who never lost sight of the need for better healthcare facilities for the community.

The staff and patients at Savernake will now embark on the stressful and difficult task of relocating to Devizes Hospital.

We are assured they will have the support needed for a smooth

transition and we look forward to seeing them back in the New Savernake Hospital in the summer of 2005.

Following on from work being done now, Devizes people may then have started on the new facilities that are needed at their hospital.

S CRIPPS

Chairman

Friends of Savernake

Hospital and Community

Bergamot Close

Manton

Marlborough