Being BC - Celebrating our Big 160th Birthday
For our Big 160th Birthday at our Children’s Hospital, we’ve been catching up with our inspirational characters from across our Trust, who wanted to share their stories on why they have decided to pursue their career aspirations with BWC. 
Being BC - Two Sisters share their story
We caught up with two of our brilliant Children’s Hospital Sisters, Gemma Barker from Preadmissions and Tracey Aston from our Play 
services. Both share their stories with our Children’s Hospital, shedding light on some of their more memorable moments and why exactly they have stayed with us throughout the years.
Gemma Barker - Junior Sister, Preadmissions
“I have worked here since qualifying in 2004, working in three different areas - Ward 2 at the beginning of my career, then to our Burns ward and now to Preadmissions. Every team I have worked with have been amazing. Teamwork is key and although it is tough working here because we are such a busy hospital and serve a huge population, everyone always pulls together and works as a team when it matters most.”
We asked Gemma why she has stayed with us for 18 years and her most memorable moments to date. She said:
“I think what keeps me here is the support of my colleagues on the shop floor and the children that we see, they have such resilience. There is just something special about working here and I am proud to say I work at BWC.
“My best memory would be myself and colleagues accompanying one of our long-term patients to the London 2012 Paralympics. She had suffered life-changing injuries from a house fire. When she saw the Paralympians with similar disabilities to hers, she was amazed. It was a privilege to be part of that day. It's children and young people like that that keep me here at BWC.”
Tracey Aston - Deputy admission team Sister in Play
“I am team BC because I am all about the children and their families. I still absolutely care for the whole unit and always give them the best care that I can in the circumstance. I have worked at BC since 1990, working originally at Five ways.”
We asked Tracey why she had decided to stay with our Children’s Hospital for an impressive 32 years. She said:
“I have stayed because I wanted to keep working frontline, being hands-on. I have never wanted to be away from the kids, I find it a privilege to be able to help these Families - I receive an enormous amount of thanks from the families and this keeps me going.”
“Pinpointing my best memory is so difficult, maybe it was a child who recently came to see me, I had looked after him 3 years ago and he wanted to know if I had received the joke he had brought in especially for me in 2019!! I had and this is it:
“What does the Queen say when the man threw cheese at her?”
How dairy (dare he)
"I forgot to say that I am know in the surgical directorate for my terrible cheese jokes."
On that note, we’d like to say a huge thank you for the brilliant cheese jokes and the memories shared by our two Sisters across Play and Preadmissions.