A fleet of 24 classic cars spelt out NHS at the Museum as part of a thank you message to NHS staff and volunteers who ran a vaccination centre during the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the cars featured in the giant motorised NHS logo were a Bentley, a Jaguar, Mustangs, Ferraris and a Porsche, alongside a 1952 MG and a Series 1 Land Rover. The tribute was part of a special event organised by the Museum to thank all those involved in the vaccination centre including the Rural Practice GP Primary Care Network and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and a group of volunteers. The Museum is also donating 403 family tickets to the vaccination teams from Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and the Rural Practice GP Primary Care Network, one for each day the vaccination centre was operational. The Museum’s suite of corporate rooms was utilised as a regional vaccination centre for more than twelve months until earlier this year for people to get vaccinated against Covid-19. During this period the teams based at the Museum delivered more than 127 thousand covid-19 vaccinations.

We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to the NHS and the amazing volunteers who staffed the centre and this is our small way of saying thank you. We were proud to have been given the opportunity to support their work and we’re looking forward to welcoming them back with their families over the coming months. Arranging all 24 of the cars into the correct positions was a bit of a challenge, but fortunately there were no shortage of expert drivers to lend a hand. said Chris Scudds, CEO at Haynes Motor Museum. 

Speaking on behalf of the Somerset Covid Vaccination Programme, Gary Risdale, Programme Manager said “The vaccination programme across Somerset has been extremely successful with almost 1.5 million vaccinations given with over 91% of adults over 18 having had at least one vaccine. 

“The opportunity to deliver such a sizable amount from the site at Haynes through a partnership between Rural Practice Network and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust played a huge part in this success and we are enormously grateful to all of the staff at the Motor Museum who welcomed us, and the public, with open arms.”

Among those attending the presentation were Gary Risdale, Programme Manager, Somerset Mass Vaccination Programme, Caroline Upton, Head of Nursing & Quality Somerset Mass Vaccination Programme, Georgina Brixey-Worrall, Operations Director, Rural Practice Network and 100FoldCIC, Dr Daniel Edmonds, Clinical Director, Rural Practice Network, Matt Dearing, Major Capital Projects Community and Mental Health Asset Manager, along with volunteer Fen Lewen.

The vaccination utilised the Haynes Motor Museum’s conference suites which, along with the rest of the Museum now restrictions have eased are reopen for business to host events once where conferences for up to 400 people can be accommodated and organised Christmas parties can be booked.