A WOMAN who has spent nearly 50 years campaigning has decided to step back and take a well-earned rest.
Eveline Dugdale, 79, from Wigton, has retired from her post as chair of the Wigton Hospital League of Friends, a group which campaigned for, raised awareness of, and sought funds for the Wigton community hospital.
However, her fundraising journey started way back in 1974, when she started driving vulnerable people in care to and from day care, often travelling 400 miles a week.
She said: “I did that for 25 years, and then my son became so unwell that I couldn’t leave him alone any longer.
“He died in 2001, and I then joined the Wigton Hospital League of Friends.”
She said that when closure of the Wigton hospital and other community hospitals in Cumbria became a threat, she founded, and subsequently became the chair of, the Joint League of Friends for all nine north Cumbria community hospitals.
This led to a protest in 2005, of which Eveline said: “We decided to do a New Orleans-style funeral.
“I asked everyone to come and bring a colourful umbrella, it was just wonderful.
“There were so many people taking part, and about four of five of us pulling this black coffin,” upon which read the slogan 'Save Our Hospitals'.
Eveline said the protest was successful in maintaining the hospitals: “We maintained all of them, and in 2016, when they were threatened again, we tried to fight it.
“I attended 50 meetings through the year, I was sick to death of saying the same things, but I managed to save beds in six of them, and the other three – Wigton, Alston and Maryport – they took the overnight beds out but gave them a lot more clinical services.”
Eveline wanted to wait and then retire at 80, but in December 2022, she slipped and injured her spine, which she is still recovering from.
She said this told her it was time to give it a rest and pass on the torch.
On her work, she said: “It’s not just the money we’re raising, it’s the awareness we’re raising.
“The people realise we're still there doing things, and you get more donations coming in.”
Eveline spoke highly of the carers she worked with while driving and thanked the general public as a whole for their kindness and generosity over her fundraising years.
On what’s next, she said: “I’ll get back to walking my dogs again.”
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