INVERCLYDE Royal’s revamped charity tea bar is to be renamed as a fitting tribute to a local campaigner who fought to save it.

The League of Friends-run enterprise will now be known as the Helen Wyllie Tea Bar following a major £30,000 refurbishment.

Much loved volunteer Helen, inset, who passed away two years ago, was one of the leading lights in the fight to keep the tea bar open when it was threatened with closure eight years ago.

Fellow volunteers decided to rename it as they wanted to celebrate the achievements of their friend and the legacy she has left for patients and staff alike.

League of Friends chairman Peter Hempsey said: “Helen is greatly missed by all her friends at the League of Friends.

“She was so committed to the tea bar and led the campaign along with other long serving members.

“Helen was the main driving force behind the tea bar and the main organiser.

“She is greatly missed by all involved and was so committed to the tea bar.

“We felt this was an appropriate thing to do.”

Thanks to the commitment of volunteers like Helen, the tea bar has raised £1.5m to support the hospital since it opened in 1974.

Every year they hand over around £120,000 to the hospital.

In recent times that has been used for a £48,000 imaging system for the main theatre and a £25,000 portable ultrasound machine for the Critical Care department.

Another cheque paid for a patient hoist in one ward and 20 big yellow-coloured clocks for dementia patients.

The League of Friends were stunned in 2009 when NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde announced plans to replace the tea bar with a posh Starbucks-style coffee shop.

It prompted a Tele-led campaign which was backed by the people of Inverclyde, and health board bosses were forced into a u-turn.

Since then the charity has continued to go from strength to strength and it was badly missed during a recent closure for the upgrade.

League of Friends chairman Mr Hempsey said: “This was an investment that we needed to make and it is a great improvement.

Tea bar convenor Janette Watt, 69, added: “We are delighted to be back open again and it looks great.

“It is lovely to see all our regulars again.”

Janette was joined on the first day back by fellow volunteer

Ann Macleod, who added: “We are glad to be back.”
Immediately upon its return, staff, patients and visitors were queuing up at the tea bar.

Outpatient Annette McDonald, who is a regular in the hospital, said: “The ladies are lovely and friendly. I am delighted it is open again.

“Inverclyde Royal is so important and the tea bar is a great supporter — all the money gets ploughed back into the hospital.”