Linda Graham, District Nurse Team Lead for Eden and Angela Reynolds, Clinical Nurse Lead for East Network were nominated for the Flood Heroes Reception, which they attended at 10 Downing Street on 21st March 2016.
The Prime Minister invited the pair to thank them for what they and others have done and continue to do to help communities through difficult times and to hear more about their experience. They were nominated via a letter to their local newspaper, as per the Flood Heroes guidelines, by an anonymous source.
Linda said: “The whole evening was an honour, and felt a really genuine thank you for everyone’s efforts – we were only doing our jobs!”
Angela said: “We both felt humbled and honoured to represent the NHS and have this opportunity to reflect all the work that went on in Cumbria and continues to do so in regards to the devastating storm Desmond. We felt the stories we were able to share and the way in which communities pulled together demonstrating the true Spirit of Cumbria were genuinely received and listened to with interest. The Prime Minister asked us to give heartfelt thanks to everyone that was and still is involved in supporting the recovery and all that it entails”
Caroline Evans, Associate Director of Operations for the North Community Care Group said: “I am extremely proud of Angie and Linda, I know that they each worked above and beyond their roles over many weeks during a very challenging time for our Trust and the people of Cumbria. They were both able to provide Specialist Nursing care to vulnerable people during the major incident and showed exemplary leadership skills to their teams to ensure that hundreds of patients across north Cumbria received the care they needed. I know that the teamwork and highly skilled workforce that Linda and Angie have worked to achieve is part of the reason why we have such dedicated staff. I would like to commend them both and also the hundreds of other staff who also ensured that all of our patients received the treatment that they needed.”