Why Great Ormond Street Hospital has a special place in my heart

'It’s just such a wonderful place and I’m always happy to help GOSH because they helped me'

Barbara Windsor photographed when Arsenal football club made GOSH its charity for the 2009-2010 season

Some things you hear as a child stay with you forever and I will never forget the kind words of the Great Ormond Street Hospital nurse who looked after me umpteen years ago: “A little girl like Barbara needs a little something to make her medicine taste a little better.”

I was only eight or nine at the time and I was a tiny little thing – I still am. It was just after the war and I’d been having aches and pains. I used to say to my mum I had toothache in my legs because that’s the only way I could describe it as a child.

My local doctor couldn’t work out what was wrong so decided to send me to Great Ormond Street Hospital. That’s just what happened, back then and still to this day. If they can’t fix you, they send you to GOSH. People think of it as magical place that makes things better.

I remember getting two buses to GOSH, which should have felt like an adventure, but when you’re a child you go to places like hospital with fear and trepidation. I remember walking up to the hospital thinking: “What is this strange place?” The buildings were harsher-looking back then and it was very frightening for me, but by the time I left I was bouncing around as happy as anything because everybody in there was so amazing.

They discovered I had rheumatism in my leg, which is all fine now, and luckily I was able to go home the same day, but the kindness they showed me in that time has stayed with me.

I will never forget them coming along with medicine for me to take and one of the nurses said she thought she could make it taste better. She went away and put some jam on it and that has always stuck in my mind. At the time I thought what a nice lady she was, but as I’ve got older I’ve realised that she really took the time to think about me. Maybe they did that for everyone, but I felt incredibly special and she made it feel like I was a very important little girl.

Back then it was a dollop of jam, but now they have toys, clowns and all sorts of entertainment to help the medicine go down. It’s just such a wonderful place and I’m always happy to help GOSH because they helped me.

I live quite close to the hospital and it is always a joy to go in and see how much it has changed. There is always something new and the whole atmosphere is brilliant. It’s just wonderful and I’ve done lots with them over the years.

As a big Arsenal fan, one of my favourite moments was visiting the hospital with the team when GOSH was Arsenal’s chosen charity of the season in 2009-10. I also got to go on to the pitch when they had a big match against Chelsea and do all the formal announcements and business bits. That was a real treat – until the Chelsea fans started booing me. As you can imagine, I couldn’t believe it.

They clearly didn’t like that I was proudly supporting Arsenal that day in my red and white strip. All 4ft 11in of me put them in their place when I screamed: “We are doing this for GOSH.”

And now I’m doing this for GOSH, asking readers to give all they can for this extraordinary hospital. It holds a special place in my heart, and the same is true for the hundreds of thousands of families it has supported over the years, so please give generously.

To find out more about our charity auction and to make your bid, please visit www.givergy.com/charity/gosh

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