PEOPLE are being asked to share their memories of a hospital to celebrate and preserve its history.

The Stead Hospital, in Kirkleatham Street, Redcar, was closed earlier this year following the opening of the new £37m Redcar Primary Care Hospital in West Dyke Road.

NHS Redcar and Cleveland is working with the Stead’s League of Friends Voluntary Services Organisation to create a heritage mural for the new hospital to enable visitors to discover more about its history.

Malcolm Brydon, capital investment manager for NHS Redcar and Cleveland and NHS Middlesbrough, said: “We would like anyone who has a memory of the Stead Hospital, or any of the services provided, to contact us.

“Whether it is a photo, a story, a memory, or something unique like old artefacts or memorabilia, we would like to hear from you.”

The mural will be produced by Woodgate Design, a specialist company which has worked on similar projects at North Ormesby Health Village and the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

Hospital staff, former patients and local families are being encouraged to play their part in the history project by sharing memories dating back to when the Stead first opened in 1929.

The new building provides facilities for four general practices, community services, outpatients and care for the elderly.

It will also provide day theatre and endoscopy, a minor injuries unit, and x-ray, ultrasound, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy departments.

To help preserve the history of the Stead, the public are invited to an open afternoon on Wednesday, October 6, from 1pm to 4.30pm, when they will have an opportunity to speak to staff and take along any memorabilia items they would like to be included in the history project.

Memorabilia can also be sent to Malcolm Brydon, Riverside House, 18 High Force Road, Riverside Park, Middlesbrough TS2 1RH or malcolm.brydon@middlesbrough pct.nhs.uk, with a return address so materials can be returned safely.

The deadline for contributions is Friday, October 29.