When Leona Awoyele found herself looking through old photographs of her grandma training as a nurse in Stepping Hill Hospital she decided to take the trip up from her home in London to Stockport find out more.

Leona and her mum Lara came across a number of old photographs of Alake Taiwo, Leona grandma and Lara’s mum while clearing through their house. They included a number of great quality pictures of Alake training as a student nurse in Stepping Hill Hospital during the 1960s.

Leona, a civil servant living in London, was delighted to see these images of her grandma about to start her career in caring as a nurse. Sadly Alake passed away in 1976 and Leona never got to know her.

Leona and Lara were keen to discover even more photographs and possible news about Alake, and so made the train journey up via Lara’s home in Peterborough to  Stockport Library to see what they could find. Once in the archives they were able to find other photos of their grandma and mum, and even a newspaper cutting from the Stockport Express which showed she had won the local award of student nurse of the year. 

Both Leona and Lara were delighted with their discoveries, and plan to visit Stepping Hill Hospital itself in the future when infection prevention restrictions allow. 

“Our trip up to Stockport was magical. Before deciding to go up, me and Mum had stumbled upon old pictures and documents from my grandma’s time in Stockport. We weren’t too sure what to expect, and we definitely didn’t have a plan, but it was incredible to find out more information about her time as a student nurse. I never met my grandma, but I certainly feel closer to her and it’s nice to keep her memory alive.”

We are very happy that Leona shared these lovely photos of her grandma with us; great records of one of our many fantastic student nurses who have trained with us over the years.