Like many hospitals, the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre has relied on a host of wellwishers over the years to provide those extra comforts for patients.

The goodwill of many groups and individuals over the years has helped to make a long or even short stay in a ward less of an ordeal.

A group of young artists painted eight pictures which were stuck to the ceiling of Girdlestone Ward to cheer up patients who spent six weeks on their backs with spinal injuries.

Dogs, aircraft, a pop group, a jungle and an underwater scene were among the subjects, painted at a weekend workshop run by artist Roland Gold at his studio in Walton Crescent, Oxford.

The artists, left to right, Selena Beckett, Sarah Travis, Stephen Gordon, Emma Entwistle, Josephine Holmes and Rebecca Curran, are seen in Picture 1 in 1981 with patient Louise Townsend.

Louise, 13, who had been confined to bed for three weeks, said: “They are all lovely. They will certainly brighten up the ward.”

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Visitors to the hospital fete in 1979 were invited to guess where the ‘patient’ in the wheelchair, in Picture 2, was suffering pain and stick in a pin.

He or she was certainly suffering pain by the end!

Money from the fete, organised by the hospital sports and social club, went towards building an extension to the outpatients’ department.

The fete always attracted huge crowds and raised vital funds for hospital projects.

Picture 3 shows staff and supporters in St Giles during a bed push to advertise the event in 1972.

Among those raising money at the 1975 fete was Brigette Mackey, a member of the after-care staff, who challenged punters to guess where stitches were hidden under her plaster.

Jim Gordon, a member of the Oxford Caledonian Pipe Band, in Picture 4, faced a tricky operation deciding where to make his choice!

Littlemore Brownies, in Picture 5, did their good deed for the day when they presented a cheque for more than £200 to the hospital.

They had raised the money in 1981 by collecting pennies and halfpennies and by taking part in a sponsored walk.

Guider Ada McCabe is seen presenting the cheque to Diana Staples, clinical psychologist at Mary Marlborough Lodge, where staff helped patients with severe disabilities.

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A tea bar in the hospital reception area, run by the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS), brewed up dividends for patients and staff in 1980.

Gifts bought from the proceeds of the bar were presented to Alan Maugham, manager of the hospital’s artificial limb and appliance centre, by Evi Buxton, the WRVS county organiser.

Dr GR Parry is seen in Picture 6 linking them.

The gifts included pictures, records and a projector for patients and medical textbooks and armchairs for staff.

The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington has been treating patients with bone and joint problems for more than 80 years and has a world-wide reputation for excellence in orthopaedics, rheumatology and rehabilitation. The hospital also undertakes specialist services such as the treatment of bone infection and bone tumours.