Nightingale nursing badge and jewellery stolen in Preston Christmas burglary

Police said the blue badge, which is recognised worldwide as a symbol of nursing excellence, was stolen after thieves raided a home in Fulwood.

The force has not said where in Fulwood the burglary happened, but added that a 9ct gold brooch and a ring were also taken.

The force has launched a social media appeal for help to find the stolen badge and jewellery.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "We're appealing for any information regarding the whereabouts of this 'Nightingale' nursing badge. stolen from a burglary at a residential property in the Fulwood area over the Christmas period.

"This badge is considered quite an uncommon item within Lancashire and is also engraved with the owners name.

"It is a badge which is given to nurses who qualify from St Thomas' Hospital and bears an image of Florence Nightingale.

"Also stolen was a 9ct gold brooch & ring.

"Any information into the whereabouts of this property can be passed by ringing 101 quoting LC-20211228-0352.

"Alternatively information can be passed anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

What is the Nightingale Badge?

Dame Alicia Lloyd Still, who was then matron of St Thomas’ Hospital, commissioned the ‘hospital badge’ in 1925 and it was first struck in the same year.

The design of the badge is taken from the white eight-pointed cross of the Knights Crusaders of St John of Jerusalem (now Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem).

The ancient organisation was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in 1888 and is best known today for its work as the St John Ambulance.

The centre of the design portrays the head of Miss Nightingale in relief, and the words ‘Scola Sancti Thomas’ on the reverse is the owner’s name with the date of her certificate.

The blue reflects the colour of the ribbon on the Order of Merit which was awarded to Florence Nightingale in 1907, the first woman to be awarded this honour.

The badge was subsequently awarded to nurses who qualified from the Nightingale Training School at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, and who had also passed a hospital examination and served for a fixed period as a junior staff nurse, or ‘red belt’, within the hospital.

It used to be tradition for the badges to be returned to the Fellowship on the death of the recipient, but this is no longer the case.

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