Sound of snoring the most disturbing part of underground hospital sleepover
FORTUNATELY echoing snores were all that kept up a group of fiduciary staff as they did a charity sleepover inside the German Underground Hospital over the weekend.
It is believed this was the first time an event like this has been organised at the site, which is reputedly one of the most haunted in the Channel Islands.
Fourteen staff from Estera took part in the event, and raised more than £1,000 for Festung Guernsey, which manages the hospital, and the same amount for men’s charity Male Uprising Guernsey.
The event was organised by finance manager Annie Knight.
‘We did events like this with my old company and for years we have been trying to stay at the hospital, but we could not get permission,’ she said.
‘But when Festung Guernsey took over earlier this year, they said we could stay here.’
Staff were only told last Wednesday that they would be staying in the hospital on Friday night. Mrs Knight said people had been a bit nervous, but mostly excited.
During the night they had camp beds and yoga mats, as the tunnels can get quite wet. But the tunnels were actually warmer than outside.
Mrs Knight said they played card games. While they had not seen any ghosts, they were kept up by snoring, which echoed off the walls.
‘It’s been good fun and team building,’ she said.
The group raised £1,300, which will be matched by Estera. Half the money will go to Festung, while the other will go to Mug, which was a charity chosen by one of the staff members.
Hospital director and Festung member Steve Powell said they were pleased to be able to host the event. The group is trying to get the tunnels used more.
‘It’s something that has not really been promoted in the past, but we are really keen to use it, rather than leave it,’ he said.
‘It’s got a lot of potential for a lot of different events.’
The hospital is now closed until April, but this week about 150 athletes will be taking to the halls for a special distance run.
