THE family of a Hill of Beath woman were so impressed with the treatment that she got at Ward 51 of the Victoria Hospital, they decided they wanted to do something to say thank-you to the nurses and doctors.

Joyce Greig died from the effects of an illness that lasted for several months and her last few weeks were spent in Ward 51, which saw her large family spend a lot time on visits.

When Joyce passed away they decided that they had to do something to for the tremendous care that staff had given her and began to raise funds to achieve their aim, and realised the amazing sum of £11,417.

They held two fundraisers at Hill of Beath Club with the help of local groups.

The first featured The Favours, which raised the tremendous sum of £6,500, and the second was a Motown night, Joyce’s favourite music, which saw Uptown Groove join Dunfermline Soul Club in providing the entertainment, and it raised around £5,000.

The donation of some fantastic prizes made for good prize draws and silent auctions while Grant McArthur wrote a song and put it on you tube and the total just kept adding up.

Said Jean Martin, one of Joyce’s sisters: “The staff, under Charge Nurse Val Turner, really were phenomenal and during our visits we noticed that the family room needed new furniture.

“Also speaking to Val we also found that that the bedside chairs for visitors were not suitable for everyone. She also mentioned that she had noticed that virtual reality headsets could have a really good effect on patients.”

Armed with all this information the family devised a plan to get some items that would greatly help the staff of Ward 51 in Joyce’s memory.

Their efforts bought two new couches for the family room and a sideboard, and three recliner seats for bedside use by patients’ visitors.

They also purchased two virtual reality headsets which have been very popular already on the ward, and also some medical equipment.

Val Turner said: “I have been on the wards for 40 years and this is the most amazing donation I have seen made by a family

“The family room has been transformed and the reality headsets are fantastic with incredibly superb pictures.

“We really cannot thank Joyce’s family enough for this fantastic donation.”

Added Jean: “The fundraising nights at Hill of Beath Club saw 220 people at both of them and really the generosity of everyone involved was incredible.

“We are indebted to everyone who contributed to the cause, it has seen the family room transformed and more.”

Joyce, who was 59 when she died, was someone who was very well known in the Cowdenbeath area having worked in community education for many years.