The 203 (Welsh) Field Hospital are to be awarded the Freedom of the City and County of Cardiff in honour of their services to Cardiff. The medical unit, known as the Welsh Medics will be only the ninth organisation to receive the honour since 1886.
The award will be presented at 10.30am, in an invitation only ceremony at City Hall on April 21, 2014. The public are encouraged to show their support outside City Hall where a Royal Gun Salute will take place in celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s birthday. The Welsh Medics will then take part in a Freedom Parade from 11.30am.
City Council Leader, Cllr Phil Bale, said: “The men and women who serve in this medical unit are true ambassadors for the city. By making them honorary freeman we are recognising the strong links and significant contribution the unit makes to Cardiff. They join a distinguished list of individuals and organisations who have already been granted the honour of Freedom of the City.”
The Welsh Medics were established in the mid 1990s, although there have been Welsh Reserve Hospital elements based out of Cardiff under various names since World War One.
203 (Welsh) Field Hospital recently returned from its second unit tour of Afghanistan, serving in Camp Bastion as the hospital providing vital clinical care to deployed forces in need and also for local injured personnel in what is one of the leading trauma units in the World.
There are currently eight members of the unit still on operations and they will return at the beginning of May.
Colonel Tina Donnelly, Commanding Officer 203 (Welsh) Field Hospital, said: “It was an absolute privilege for the unit to be able to provide urgent and routine hospital care to all those who needed us in our recent tour of duty.
It is extremely important to all of us that the people of Cardiff and the Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Derrick Morgan and Cardiff Council, have awarded 203 (Welsh) Field Hospital the Freedom of the City and County of Cardiff.
We are hugely proud and honoured to be given the opportunity to participate in the formal ceremony on Monday, April 21 and also to attend the Royal Gun Salute at City Hall. As Welsh Medics we look forward to celebrating this with our families and members of the public.”
Based at the Territorial Army centre at Llandaff North, the unit supports the regular army on operations by supplying high quality individual replacements of key medical professionals. Personnel from the unit have been deployed in support of many operations including the Falklands Conflict, the Gulf War, the Balkans conflict, the Iraq War and peace keeping in Northern Ireland and Cyprus.
The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Derrick Morgan, said: “It is an honour to bestow the Freedom of the City of Cardiff to the 203 (Welsh) field Hospital and to recognise the work of the men and women who give so much to save the lives of people in war torn countries. What a wonderful celebration it is for the city of Cardiff.”
