A TOURIST attraction has scooped an award for helping the NHS to celebrate its 70th anniversary.

The British Ironwork Centre near Oswestry has received a certificate of appreciation from the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Charity.

The also honours the venue's further fundraising efforts for hospitals in the area.

A spokesman for the centre said: "For months leading up to the 70th anniversary of the NHS we created a beautiful sculpture, at no cost to the NHS, inspired by our national appreciation for the organisation.

"Created by local artist, Luke Kite, alongside the help of regional nurses, the sculpture has been made from a myriad of unwanted and scrap medical equipment."

The sculpture was unveiled at the event and now sits proudly outside the general ward at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH).

To commemorate the lives of two twin girls, Ella and Lola, who died in 2014, the RHS opened up a beautiful garden. The British Ironwork Centre supplied the hospital with a white gazebo, rose arch, benches, and metal butterflies that we provided sit within a selection of white flowers and a pebble trail that has been hand painted by Shropshire school children.

The centre also supplies staff and nurses of RSH with Business for Health bags, filled with goodies from all the regional businesses involved in the day to thank them for their hard work.

The spokesman added: "Additionally, we supplied the hospital with 1000s of metal blue butterflies in aid of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust of (SaTH) dementia fundraising campaign.

All proceeds have, and will continue to, go towards SaTH’s appeal to help hospitals create dementia-friendly spaces and to help buy the much needed resources for dementia patients.

The spokesman added: "We are committed to helping the community around us, especially those organisations that work so hard for us every day. Many of us take the NHS for granted which is why we believe that supporting it is so important.

"An up and coming project with the RSH will be helping to refresh and redecorate their café alongside the League of Friends of the RSH."