Page 589 - Reading Mercury

Alderman Priest expressed thanks on Mrs. Priest’s behalf, and he and his wife
would treasure the gifts all their lives. The autograph album they would look upon as
one of the greatest treasures in their home.
The chairman then handed certain prizes to Mr. J. Langley and to little Miss Gough.

ACCEPTING THE ENDOWMENT.
At 8.15 p.m. Alderman Priest (president) succeeded Councillor Fullbrook in the
chair, and a meeting was held to consider the special agenda, viz., suggestions from
the Royal Berkshire Hospital authorities as to the Wokingham bed endowment. The
hospital authorities stated:--
It is the desire of the Board of Management that as many as possible of those who
have contributed to the endowment should be present at the inauguration of the
Wokingham bed.
Accommodation within the ward is naturally restricted, and the following
suggestions are put forward as alternative methods of giving effect to the Board’s
wishes.
1. To defer the inauguration of the bed until the early summer, when a large number
of guests could be gathered together in the grounds outside the ward and the
dedication ceremony relayed to them by amplifiers.
2. To arrange a ceremony in, say, the Town Hall in Wokingham at which the
endowment would be accepted by the highest hospital authorities in the presence of
the civic dignitaries and all donors to the fund who wish to be present; and to hold the
dedication ceremony at the bedside in the ward of the hospital in the presence only of
the members of the Wokingham Hospital Committee.
There were present, in addition to the officers and members of the committee, the
following: The Mayor (Councillor, the Rev. C. Mansfield), Alderman Admiral J.B.
Eustace, Dr. Ward, councillors Barrett, Fullbrook and D. Goddard, and later Mr. F.A.
Lyon, secretary of the Royal Berkshire Hospital.
“THERE IS OUR BED.”
Alderman Priest his presence in the chair as being due to the fact that he did not
vacate until the annual meeting in March, of the Hospital Committee. The chairman
said they had every reason to feel happy and proud that the object they had set out to
achieve—viz., to get a bed endowed in the name of Wokingham in the Royal
Berkshire Hospital—had been realised. Inaugurated a few years ago, they had been
able to do a great deal in the last four years, and, thanks to the loyal co-operation of
the Wokingham Hospital Committee and the generous support of their good friends in
Wokingham, they would soon be able to say, “There is our own bed in the Royal
Berkshire Hospital.” He hoped that beds would be provided from other districts in the
county, because it would help a worthy institution that was doing such a tremendous
lot of good. They had before them two suggested alternatives for the commemoration
of the event. The Wokingham arms would, he said, be placed over the bed, and the
usual ceremony of dedication would take place.
CIVIC CEREMONY FOR WOKINGHAM.
Mr. F. Moles then proposed that the second alternative suggested by the hospital
authorities be adopted, advancing that as many Wokingham people had contributed
(some of limited means), it would secure that the greater number of the subscribers
would be present, and it seemed fitting that this ceremony should be a civic one for
Wokingham.

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