PONTARDDULAIS: The £2 Sunday quiz that has put £16,250 into Swansea’s hospitals

Every Sunday night at Pontarddulais Conservative Club, around seven teams pay £2 a head for the quiz and raffle. When the kitty reaches £500, one team picks where it goes.

This time it was quiz chairman Eirwyn Evans’s turn, and he and his wife Hilary did not have to think hard. Both had been patients at Singleton Hospital this year.

Hilary was treated for bowel cancer, with consultant colorectal surgeon Daniel Hanratty performing her operation. Eirwyn had a health scare of his own and was treated on Ward 11, the haematology ward.

“It was our team’s turn to select the charity, and because Hilary and I were going through this, we decided now to give to the hospital,” Eirwyn said.

So the £500 was split: £250 for Ward 11 and £250 for the GI Research Fund, which backs research into bowel disease and bowel cancer by Swansea Bay clinicians, some of it alongside Swansea University.

Fifteen years, £16,250 and a say for everyone

The two cheques take the quiz’s giving to Swansea Bay Health Charity to £16,250 over 15 years, the charity says.

The wards it has helped include the neonatal intensive care unit, the breast care unit and the intensive therapy unit at Morriston Hospital, and the quiz has also given to local schools, foodbanks, community groups and the RNLI.

Eirwyn puts the total raised for all causes since the quiz began at around £40,000.

“It depends where the team wants it to go to when we hit £500 in the kitty,” he said. “Everybody in the pub quiz has an input.”

A blood test for bowel cancer, and ten PhDs

Dean Harris, the colorectal consultant who manages the GI Research Fund, said the money had allowed research to be done in Swansea that would otherwise not happen here.

“Recent projects include development of a novel blood test for bowel cancer detection, improved ways of treating inflammatory bowel disease, and training of staff to bring new treatment methods to Swansea for the benefit of its local population,” he said.

He added that the fund had helped ten trainees to complete PhD or MD degrees in Swansea. “Donations make a difference in allowing our research into bowel cancer detection and treatment to continue.”

A spokesperson for Swansea Bay Health Charity said the community spirit behind the weekly event was remarkable. “It is clear how proud everyone is to support local causes that make a real difference, and we’re incredibly grateful for their continued support of patients and services across Swansea Bay.”

The quiz runs every Sunday from 7.30pm at the club. Anyone wanting to raise money for the health board’s charity can find it at swanseabayhealthcharity.com.

Author

Kit Peters

Kit Peters is a journalist and the editor of Swansea Bay News, covering Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire since 2020.