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Rotary delivers £208,000 to complete the purchase of Swindon radiotherapy equipment

Rotary’s second major donation, of £208,000, was handed over on 7th July 2021 when local Rotarians visited the Great Western Hospital to view the build progress of the nearly completed radiotherapy unit.


Rotary clubs in and around Swindon have now donated a total of one third of a million pounds towards the new LINAC machine soon to be installed in the radiotherapy unit. Once operational thousands of patients will benefit from vital cancer treatment that currently is only on offer in Oxford hospitals.

This amazing amount, the largest single donation to the Brighter Futures effort to cover the £2.9 million pound cost of the machine, was begun in 2015. Twelve local Rotary clubs led by Rotarian Howard Small of the Marlborough Rotary Club, agreed to begin their fund-raising and made a start-up donation of £120,000.

When in 2017 the Brighter Futures team asked if Rotary could do more, the clubs responded by committing to making a further significant donation. Three Rotarians, Peter Hayman, David Pratt, and Peter Wells formed the team that were determined to then bring Rotary International, headquartered in the USA, into the fund-raising campaign. The result today is the largest ever Global Grant made by Rotary International to a project in the UK, boosting the figure to £208,000.

Peter Wells who negotiated the Grant from Rotary in the United States said:
“This is a local effort by local Rotarians from Swindon, Royal Wootton Bassett and Marlborough, backed by Rotary International. This is what Rotary is all about: delivering practical projects that provide potentially life-changing solutions to local problems. We are pleased today as Rotarians to be serving by our actions the people of Swindon and beyond.”

Kevin McNamara, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Chief Executive, said:
"We are eternally grateful for the support of the Rotary Club – quite simply, without their extremely generous donation this major project would not be taking place. Work on the centre has really taken off over the past few months and I was pleased the Rotarians were today able to see first-hand how their contribution is helping to bring radiotherapy treatment to Swindon.”

Rotary delivers £208,000 to complete the purchase of Swindon radiotherapy equipment sub-pages:

Radiotherapy Appeal celebrates reaching the £2.9m target

more To thank Rotary for raising a third of a million pounds towards the £2.9m appeal for a radiotherapy centre in Swindon Brighter Futures puts on a party [Picture:Swindon Advertiser]