Staff and volunteers celebrated at special event
Staff and volunteers at St Ann’s Hospice were joined by family and friends to celebrate the dedication and hard work they have given to the company.
The St Ann’s Celebration Event took place in the Being You Centre in the hospice’s Heald Green site and included the Long Service Awards and the Chair’s Awards.
Chief Executive of St Ann’s Hospice Rachel McMillan was on hand to personally welcome and congratulate the staff and volunteers.
“We’ve got 89 people receiving their long service awards at St Ann’s today, which is just amazing. It shows the hard work, support and dedication everybody that belongs to St Ann’s and I’m still the new girl of 12 and a half years!” Rachel said.
“You don’t just come to the hospice or into our shops, or trading company and do your job, you are also an ambassador and a fundraiser and that is important to us as an organisation.
“It is overwhelming when you look at the number of years of work totted up by everyone here today. It’s amazing. So I would like to personally thank everyone for coming here today,” she added.
Pictures from the event can be viewed by clicking here.
A total of 77 volunteers were acknowledged during this year’s ceremony including Judith Hargreaves-Stead who has contributed an incredible 45 years volunteering at St Ann’s.
Judith has been helping St Ann’s out with flower arrangements since St Ann’s Hospice opened its doors in Little Hulton in 1979. Part of Judith’s volunteering role is ensuring that patients have bright, fresh flowers in their rooms. She also displays flowers in the reception and around various rooms and departments around the hospice.
“We don’t do it as much now, unfortunately, ever since Covid happened. We came in every week and looked after them,” Judith said.
Other volunteers who received the Long Service Award included Angela Sofield, Paula Pilling, and Margaret Davies, for 25 years.
The longest serving staff member to receive the award was Suzanne Willans who has worked at St Ann’s Hospice in Heald Green for 30 years.
Suzanne started off as a hairdresser before transitioning into a nursing position.
“I was asked by a friend of mine if I wanted to come and be the hairdresser here at the hospice,” Suzanne said.
“I thought oh, I don’t want to be around death and dying… I said I’d come along anyway. When I came in, I absolutely loved it.”
Suzanne worked for six years as a hairdresser before deciding she wanted to become a nurse at the hospice which according to her “took a long time”. She spent two years completing her MVQ Level Three in Palliative Care.
I see my role as no different as being a midwife. A midwife brings life into this world. We’re there at the end of the journey. If you can make someone’s death a good one, with love and support, then you’ve done your job. Suzanne Willans
The Long Service Awards were followed by the Chair’s Awards which are awarded to staff members who embody St Ann’s values. The categories were: People Matter, awarded to Heather Bennet, In Memory and Legacy Fundraiser; Lead and Learn, awarded to Nicole Manley, Deputy Head of Clinical Services, Louise Abedin and Jennie Pickard, Specialist Palliative Care Pharmacists; Bold and Brave, awarded to Caitlin Furniss, Education and Development Manager; Together we are Stronger, awarded to the Trading Company Online Team, and the House Keeping Team.
There was also the Volunteer Special Recognition Award which was presented to Margaret Thompson (also known as Nana), Fundraising Volunteer. Margaret has been a volunteer in Heald Green since 2006. She was inspired to volunteer at St Ann’s after the care shown to her father when he died at St Ann’s Hospice, experiencing the kindness and care shown to him and all his family. Each year she has worked tirelessly on our Christmas appeal Light up a Life, helping to create our book of honour with over 1,000 dedications.
A full list of all the award winners from the St Ann’s Celebration Event are listed, below.
Staff Long Service Awards
30 years – Suzanne Willans
20 years – Audrey Graham, and Andy Farnworth
10 years – Jennie Welham, Lisa Murphy, Trudi Ogden, Lorna Matthews, Kay Jackson, Joanne Brown, Fiona Sanderson, Amanda Connors, and Lynsey Ayers.
Volunteer Long Service Awards
5 years – Audrey Cox, Christine Wilson, David Pearson, Derek Fuller, Janice Branch, Ann Garside, Darren Holt, Gillian Wooldridge, Imelda Lowe, Julia Stockton, Melanie Ogden, Norma Currie, Alexander Heaton, Anne Holland, Bethany Greenlee, Carolyn Hume, Christine Dakin, Deborah Shimmin, Elizabeth Kent, Ellen Cohen, Fran Probert, Gaynor Bohan, Hazel Hall, Helen Reddy, Ian Macbeth, Jackie Sayers, Jacob Devadson, Jennifer Iddon, Joseph (Bart) Gardener, Karen Baylis, Kathleen Jackson, Kathleen Travis, Lisa Cartlitch, Lynn Andrew, Lynn Wood, Martin Sadler, Pauline Kilmartin, Sally Rose Watts, Shelley Miller-Reedman, Susan Wrigley, Tanya Cross, and Veronica Feeley.
10 Years – Beverley Levy-Byroo, Gillian Hills-Brown, Jessie Atkinson, John Kemp, John Philip Callow, Lesley Paisley, Carole Walker, Elaine Biglen, Enda Donegan, Josephine McPherson, Maria Burke, Norma Richardson, Sue Sawyer, Susan Higham, and Vicky Cole.
15 Years – David Gould, Kathy Ozkan, Susan Mee, Anthony Parker, Doreen Burke, Kathleen Arundale, Matthew Wall, Maureen Wardle, Nicky Hinchcliffe, Sheila Worth, and Sylvia Prescott.
20 Years – Margaret Poole, Pat Edge, Anne Davies, Julie Patricia Cooke, and Mary Pease.
25 Years – Angela Sofield, Paula Pilling, and Margaret Davies.
45 Years – Judith Hargreaves-Stead.