Queen Victoria fills the King's Hall
HBM
The King's Hall was packed - a fantastic sight. It gladdens my heart to see people getting involved in local issues, and the turnout this evening was clear evidence of the importance of QVMH to our town.
Congratulations to Gillian Fowler, and the League of Friends of QVMH, and a swarm of others around town for alerting us to the proposals, spreading the message, and mobilising support so effectively.
About 15 minutes before the meeting was due to start, the Hall was at capacity. There were some helpful women (from the Trust, I think) acting as bouncerettes, and patiently explaining that for Health & Safety reasons the later arrivals would have to stand in the lobby and listen as best we could to the presentations.
Apparently they were expecting "about a hundred people to turn up", but they got about 500. Not their first miscalculation, I fear.
There were several councillors milling about, both in and outside the Hall. I'm sure they all registered the strength of popular opinion (i.e. number of voters) and will make a principled stand to support our hospital, or at least jump on the bandwaggon.
The good news is that the Trust have sensibly decided to hold another meeting to cater for those who couldn't get in today, or couldn't face the rubbish weather. No date has been set yet - I'll let you know as soon as I find out.
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