I'm proud to be the Pot Lady

Maureen Ballard is a volunteer for the Hospice with our fundraising team, and has enjoyed dedicating her time to the Hospice since she retired. She shares her experience of working with the Hospice.

I am a volunteer at Saint Francis Hospice and I can quite honestly say it’s the best thing I have ever done!

I retired from banking and really missed the companionship of work colleagues and the need to be needed. All of this the hospice has fulfilled for me since I became a volunteer.

To work with such dedicated colleagues is a real pleasure and to feel part of their team is so rewarding.

I love the variety of different people to work with as all are from different backgrounds but we all have one common goal - to raise as much funds as possible for people who need our compassionate and experienced palliative and end of life care.

Early days helping out at Pemberton Place

When I first started in the hospice, I was helping in the Day Ward, which is now known as Pemberton Place. It was such a happy place. When people first arrived, they were nervous and anxious but within a few hours they understood it was a safe place and they were listened too. They all had such marvellous stories to share.

A few have stuck in my mind over the years. One lady had a child out of wedlock as a young girl of 16 - this was taboo in those days. The son that she had never seen, had found her via the internet. She was so nervous and did not know what to do. With comfort and encouragement, she met with him, and all the guilt she had felt over the years disappeared as he had had such a good life with caring adoptive parents. A much better life than she could have given him. It was so wonderful to hear her share with me their first meeting. We were both in tears of happiness at the end. She was very happy as last.

Another great story was about man who was a West-End tailor before the dreaded C word came into his life. He wore the most amazing dapper suits and shirts. He shared with me the news of his favourite grandchild who was becoming a famous model. Each week he would share with me her progress and assignments, it was so interesting hearing of her success. One day he said he was taking her shopping as she needed a pair of Jimmy Choo’s shoes but couldn’t afford them. He felt he needed to help but his hair needed a trim - he wanted to look the best he could for her when he took her shopping in the West End to buy said shoes. At that time, we had a volunteer hairdresser on site who was only too happy to give him a quick trim. He was so proud when he left us that day. The next week he shared with me how the shoes were chosen. I could not believe the price he paid but he did not care when he saw the love shining in her eyes with such gratitude.

Being the fundraising team's 'pot lady'

These days I support the fundraising team. I am known as the Pot Lady because I look after the collection boxes which are placed in shops and clubs. These orange charity boxes still raise an amazing amount of money to help people who need our care. I call the shops and clubs on a rota basis and let them know our volunteer drivers will be in their area soon. Or sometimes they call in to say their box is full and needs to be changed - I just love those calls.

The pandemic stopped the movement of actual cash, but these days our boxes are beginning to fill again with loose change and all that shrapnel we bring back from exotic holidays. Those pennies really do make a difference to the service we can supply and the care we can provide for our patient’s families. So please do not pass one without at least thinking, do I really need all the change?

Thank you to all those shops and clubs out there that hold our boxes - you are making a huge difference. We are only able to provide our services free of charge because of contributions our wonderful supporters make.