EAST CHESHIRE HOSPICE Long service award for volunteer, aged 90
ANONAGENARIAN volunteer has received a long service award from East Cheshire Hospice.
Phyll Wood, from Tytherington, who celebrated her 91st birthday this year, has recently retired as a hospice volunteer after 15 years of helping on reception.
Phyll, originally from Birmingham, moved to Macclesfield in 2003 following the death of her husband and within weeks contacted the Hospice with a desire to help out.
Phyll had previous experience of working in a Hospice in Solihull and was keen to establish roots in her new home town by becoming a volunteer at the Millbank Drive centre.
And it seems as if hospice care is firmly established in the Wood family as Phyll’s younger daughter, Dr Christine Wood, was one of the first palliative care consultants in the country and helped set up a Hospice in Salisbury.
“Our family have a deep understanding of the importance of hospice care, which perhaps stems from my sisters’ work,” said Phyll’s eldest daughter, Jan Lakin.
“My mum has always liked to help others and enjoyed the company of everyone she met at the hospice – most especially Jackie Pengelly who also helped on reception.
“She’ll miss her friends but following a bout of illhealth earlier this year, she felt it was time to slow down a bit,” she adds.
Jan now also helps out at the hospice as a volunteer on the wards.
“I thought I’d wait for my mum to step down as a volunteer before I signed up but mum continued on and on.
“I got fed up waiting and became a volunteer last year,” she laughs.
Phyll recently received her 15 year award from the hospice director Karyn Johnson who has praised the work of the 600 hospice volunteers.
“Volunteers are the backbone of East Cheshire Hospice - we literally could not function without their generous and unconditional support,” she said.
“East Cheshire Hospice is the sum of its volunteers and as a result we are all be proud to be part of it.”
Praise for Phyll also comes from the hospice volunteer services coordinator, Helena Smith: “We think Phyll is a wonderful advert for the benefits of volunteering.”
Keen to promote the hard work of all the volunteers, the hospice now manages a specially dedicated Facebook site which features news of volunteers events visit www. facebook. com/ ECHvolunteers.