Alan Jennings presents the cheque for £2,000 to staff at Warwick Hospital's intensive care unit.Alan Jennings presents the cheque for £2,000 to staff at Warwick Hospital's intensive care unit.
Alan Jennings presents the cheque for £2,000 to staff at Warwick Hospital's intensive care unit.

Leamington historian's artistic book of landmarks in and around the town raises £2,000 for Warwick Hospital

Allan Jennings' book of photographic sketches includes the former Library, Art Gallery and Museum building in Avenue Road, Keniworth Castle and the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick with the proceeds going to the intensive care unit at Warwick Hospital

A Leamington historian has shown his artistic side in his latest publication which he has sold to raise money for the intensive cae unit (ICU) at Warwick Hospital.

By selling copies of his new book Colour Sketches of Royal Leamington Spa and the Local Area , Allan Jennings has raised £2,000 for the cause.

The photographic sketches include the former Library, Art Gallery and Museum building in Avenue Road, the Lord Leycester Hospital Warwick, Kenilworth Castle and more.

Allan said: "“During 2020 I thought that I would publish another book in order to raise a few pounds for the hardworking staff in Warwick’s ICU.”

“First, we had the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic which has taken so many lives worldwide.

"Who would have thought back in 2019 that we would experience such an event - isn’t that something that happened 100 years earlier with the Spanish Flu?”

“Secondly, the National Health Service was 72 years old in 2020 and the staff had their most difficult year in all of that time.

"They put their lives on the line to help the rest of the population and some of them paid the ultimate price.

"Thousands of former employees heard the call and resumed work at their local hospitals.

"Everyone worked long hours, in some cases double shifts, day after day.

"Many were called upon to help in intensive care units where a significant number of patients were being ventilated - and then when they finished work for the day, or night, they struggled to buy groceries from the supermarket because the shelves had been stripped bare.

“We are very fortunate to live in a lovely town and a picturesque part of the country and so I thought that I would try to reflect some of our buildings and views, whether historic, architecturally interesting, new or old, as a way of raising money for the NHS.

"The vast majority of images relate to Leamington, but I added a few from places such as Warwick and Stratford Upon Avon - after all many of us have spent time enjoying both rather than holidaying abroad.

“I could have written another local history book, or even put together a book of ‘normal’ photographs - but I wanted to do something different and so I ended up putting together a book of colour photographic sketches which provide very different images to what you normally see.

“I would like to say a special thanks to everyone who supported the NHS by buying a copy of the book as well as Paul Young and Ian Richards from Warwick Printing and Jenn Carson from Waterstones for their help and financial support.”

Copies of the book are still available at Waterstones in Leamington.