UHSM has become Britain’s first hospital to be accepted to light a beacon as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations next year.

Buckingham Palace recently announced that a network of 2,012 Beacons will be lit by communities and individuals throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, culminating in the lighting of the National Beacon by The Queen.

A competition to decide who will have the honour of lighting the beacon on the roof of Wythenshawe Hospital on Monday, June 4, 2012, will be launched shortly for staff, volunteers, patients and their families.

Bruno Peek OBE MVO OPR, Pageantmaster, HM The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Beacons, says he is delighted that UHSM has taken the lead in this project, and hopes other hospitals across the country will follow its example.

He explains: “There is a long and unbroken tradition in our country of celebrating Royal Jubilees, Weddings and Coronations with the lighting of beacons whether they be on the top of mountains, church towers, castle battlements, town and village greens, country parks, estates and farms and along the beaches surrounding our shores.

“By lighting a Beacon, the hospital will provide a perfect and important opportunity to involve staff and the local community in this historic event, as well as ensuring that patients and their families feel part of these unique national celebrations.”