Meet Margaret our Everyday Hero
I'm retired and every day I help people reach their goals at the end of their lives
The first contact I had with St Ann’s Hospice was four decades ago when I was invited as a pastoral assistant to attend a clergy training day in Little Hulton.
I dreaded it, because I thought a hospice was a very sad place, a very quiet place, and filled with doom and gloom. By the end of the afternoon, I was convinced it was a very happy place filled with lots of laughter and smiles.
I didn’t hear much from St Ann’s until years later. I came to Gatley seven years after my ordination, and I was asked immediately if I would like to be a volunteer chaplain at St Ann’s, Heald Green. I agreed to it on a three-month trial. Twenty-six years later, I was still here.
I was a chaplain to day therapy, and I used to come in one day a week, and I really enjoyed my time here. I visited inpatients and helped to conduct services of remembrance and thanksgiving.
After 25 years, I was beginning to think about retiring from the hospice, but I didn’t want to sever that contact. I got a letter through the post asking if I would like to become a regular donor to the hospice and it seemed to fit the bill. I could continue that connection with the hospice, even if I wasn’t coming in physically. Margaret Tait, Everyday Hero
I have so many happy memories volunteering with St Ann’s.
When I was volunteering with St Ann’s I felt I was able to offer something to patients that they might not be able to access if they didn’t have a minister of their own.
If they wanted to talk to somebody about life and death issues then the fact that I was available, along with the whole chaplaincy team was helpful so they could ask those hard questions.
If you would like to become a regular giver to St Ann’s Hospice, click here to fill out an application or to learn more.