A CAMPAIGN has been launched to raise £15,000 to install a commemorative stained glass window in the former Worcester Royal Infirmary.

The Worcester Royal Infirmary Nurses League is hoping to raise the money to put a specially-designed window in the Jenny Lind Chapel at the site, now owned by the University of Worcester.

The window will commemorate the nurses who worked at the infirmary in Castle Street over the centuries, in particular members of the Nurses League, and has been welcomed by the university. Professor David Green, University of Worcester vice-chancellor, said: “This is a hugely important chapel in the history of Worcester and the university has been very keen to ensure its preservation. This stained glass window will be a welcome addition and a fitting tribute to all those who worked at the hospital.”

Nurses’ League president Muriel Ballinger said: “We felt that some permanent memorial should be created at the site as there is no other trace of the work carried out by nurses in the building. We were delighted that the university was amenable to this and we now hope that the community will help to raise the funds we need.

“The hospital was a hugely important place in the city and many people will have either worked, been treated, or visited a loved one there.”

The design of the window is being discussed with Worcester City Council. The Nurses League needs £15,000 to pay for the window and has launched a fund-raising campaign. It hopes to have it completed in early 2011, when the league celebrates its diamond jubilee.

The league will hold a fund-raising evening with Henry Sandon on Saturday, May 15, at 7.30pm at Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Tickets are £15. To donate to the campaign, call Eizabeth Hill on 01886 821558 or e-mail n.hill08@btinternet.com. The Jenny Lind Chapel is named after the Swedish Nightingale, who sang in College Hall in the 1800s, donating the proceeds to the building fund. The chapel adjoins the room where the British Medical Association was formed in 1832. The former hospital is now being made into new teaching space for the university and will house the Worcester Business School from September.

The chapel has been restored as part of the work to create the new city campus. Although now deconsecrated, the chapel will remain a quiet area for students and the public.