Lions Club tablets donation lets patients keep in touch with their families and friends

Scarborough Lions Club has donated 14 tablets to hospitals so patients can speak to their family and friends remotely.

The charity acted after it received a plea for help from a woman in York whose father is terminally ill in Scarborough Hospital. Her brother, who lives in Australia, also wanted to see and speak to his dad.

Scarborough Lions Club said: “We recognised that there might be others who could benefit from being able to see and speak to their loved ones so we contacted all the Lions Clubs in the York Hospital Trust catchment area to see if they were interested in this initiative. This resulted in donations of £1,800 as well as a grant of £1,000 from the National Lions Foundation.”

“This £2,800 enabled us to buy 14 tablets which were distributed to Scarborough, York, Bridlington and Selby hospitals.”

The Lions said it had a lovely letter from the woman after the donations, who said: “I cannot stress how much it meant to me and my brother to be able to speak and joke with my dad in his final week.”

The woman also donated £200 towards the purchase of the new tablets.

She added: “My brother is in Australia and I am living a long drive away.

“We zoomed daily the best we could and on dad’s last day we both managed to zoom together to visit for 40 minutes.

“The nurses reassured us he could hear us, and he even tried to respond when my brother tried to wind him up about Leeds United.

“He looked comfortable and peaceful and passed away about an hour later with the nurse holding his hand.

“It was extremely heart breaking but being able to zoom has left us feeling comfortable and peaceful that he heard our voices before he left us.

“The comfort of hearing loved one’s voices can happen for others too now.”

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