12th December 2022

Saying farewell to Babington Hospital kitchen

Friday 9 December marked the last working day of the Babington Hospital kitchen, so comms joined the catering team who’ve been working there to capture some of their memories.

There were four members of the team: Sally Barlow (34 years’ service), Leanne Winson (21 years’ service), Simon Parker (19 years’ service) and Diane Winson (15 years’ service). They got together with some present and former colleagues on Wednesday 7 December to mark the end of an era, here are a few of their favourite memories of working with us…

“3 or 4 wards when I first started, and maternity on site too.

"People queuing out of the door of the dining room."

"We used to do meals on wheels three times a week and a sandwich round for the offices. We used to have lots of meetings and provide fancy lunches!"

"We used to have loads of fun. Cream fights at Christmas! We used to have sherry for Christmas dinners, and we used to have a glass of sherry. You had to buy a ticket for Christmas dinners, we used to do two sittings, four days a week with 60-odd people at a time, it was manic."

"We used to go out at Christmas and birthdays, we are friends outside of work. Lots of singing and music on.”


Many staff members described the kitchen as ‘the heart of Babington’ and your hard work throughout the years hasn’t gone amiss, we’d like to say thank you for your service and good luck for the future.