By Duncan Mackay

Jimmys cafe Stoke MandevilleMay 31 - A petition has been launched to have the cafe at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, originally named in honour of serial sexual predator Jimmy Savile, rechristened "Poppas" in hour of Sir Ludwig Guttmann, spiritual father of the Paralympics.


All references to Savile - who died in October 2011 - have been removed from the Hospital after it emerged that he had sexually abused and raped hundreds of children stretching back five decades.

"Jimmy's" has now been rebranded "Cafe @ WRVS", the voluntary group who run it.

Mike Mackenzie, chairman of the Poppa Guttmann Trust, wants it to be called after the German-born British neurologist based at the National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC) whose work with injured war veterans set the foundations for the establishment of the Paralympics.

Ludwig Guttmann head and shouldersThere are calls for Sir Ludwig Guttmann, nicknamed "Poppa", to have a cafe at Stoke Mandeville Hospital named after him

"All references to Jimmy Savile have been removed from the centre, including that name for the dining room," said Mackenzie.

"However it is operated by the WRVS who do a great job but they decided to change the name to 'Cafe @ WRVS'.

"This is a brand name they use in other hospitals.

"It has failed to catch on and many still refer to Jimmy's unintentionally as it is easier to say than Cafe @ WRVS.

"In the case of The NSIC most people have expressed a wish for the name 'Poppas' to be used.

"This recognises and celebrates the founding of spinal injury treatment and the Paralympic Games by Sir Ludwig 'Poppa' Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville.

"It has a friendly, comfortable and appropriate feel to it."

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