MEDICAL equipment from the old Bolton Royal Infirmary is getting a new lease of life-saving in Romania. And, when the next convoy from the Romanian Equipment Appeal for Children's Hospitals leaves Bolton on Saturday, March 21, it will also include two pictures of the former hospital to commemorate the gifts. Last year, REACH took an operating theatre out to the impoverished country, courtesy of BRI. And this year the unsung heroes of Greater Manchester Police and their supporters are once more on a medical mercy mission.

This time, they are taking much-needed supplies to an orphanage at Oradia, and then they go on to Bucharest with more supplies for children.

They will also be going to a a children's hospital in Bucharest - with a fully-equipped dental wing.

The police volunteers have been giving up their holidays to go out to Romania for the past seven years, backed by kind-hearted local firms and members of the public.

Before BRI closed, the charity was invited by the Hospitals' Trust to take surplus surgical and medical equipment for use there.

And now David Crompton's detailed pictures of the famous old hospital will be a permanent reminder in Romania of the generosity of a town and people 1,500 miles away.

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