Elizabeth’s Story

Elizabeth’s Story

Elizabeth’s family are from Yorkshire, but she has lived locally to Basingstoke, in Bramley, for about 25 years working as a Lawyer. She first encountered a hospice when her dad was being treated for Multiple Myeloma, a type of bone marrow cancer, in Yorkshire, 2 weeks before he died in 2014. He was diagnosed 13 years beforehand. Elizabeth told us, ‘he was welcoming of all treatments and fought it all the way’.

Elizabeth saw how important the hospice was to her and her family while her dad was being cared for – not only did they provide brilliant care for their dad, but they supported families along the journey. ‘Hospices are so important – they allowed us to be there for him when he needed us most, even going as far as providing a bed for his partner to stay on overnight, so she was close to him’.

Volunteering in our Hospice

Elizabeth’s daughter was 11 and her son was 9 when her dad passed away, now they have both grown up and started university and college, she told us, ‘I found myself with a lot of free time once my children started to get more independence and move out. I like to be busy, so it felt a bit strange. I don’t like sitting around with nothing to do’.

Three months ago, Elizabeth started volunteering in our In-Patient Unit, she started out covering another volunteer and then went on to volunteer a few hours every other week.

‘I heard of St. Michael’s through my workplace and word of mouth, so when I found myself with more time in the week, I knew I wanted to use it to help my local hospice’.  Elizabeth helps our staff with general duties that can take the pressure off the staff in the Hospice, such as making hot drinks, folding laundry and much more.

When we asked what her favourite thing about volunteering at St. Michael’s is, she said, ‘I feel I am using my time to do something positive and help others, I don’t do it to gain anything or even tell anyone. It’s just to help. The Hospice is such a positive and cheerful place, all the staff are amazing and so helpful. Everyone is so lovely’.

Would you like to volunteer for us? We’d love to hear from you, please email us at volunteer@stmichaelshospice.org.uk or visit our Volunteers Vacancy page for more information and to apply.