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Headingley's Wheatfields Hospice celebrates 30th birthday
Anyone who has ever experienced life at Wheatfields Hospice will know it's a very special place.
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But some people are so dedicated to the cause, they've spent virtually three decades working there.
And as the hospice celebrates its 30th birthday, the volunteers continue to be as important as ever.
Before the Sue Ryder Care hospice even welcomed its first patient on August 18, 1978, an army of helpers had donated their time for free, scrubbing the floors, clearing the pathways and even staying overnight to protect the building from burglars.
For the past 30 years, the volunteers have continued to do their bit, in terms of helping both the patients and raising funds – and nurse Mary Murphy, who has worked at the hospice since before it opened, said the charity "couldn't do without them".
"The volunteers just do so much for us," she said. "The whole community has been behind us ever since the very early days.
"The staff and the volunteers always pull together to make a patient's last days as happy and peaceful as possible.
"One example which really sticks in my mind is a patient called Tracy, who was only 29 and had two young children.
"She said one of her biggest regrets was not marrying the father of her children, and when I spoke to him, he felt the same way.
"So we arranged for them to get married here at the hospice.
"One of the nurses had also got married the previous year and she was the same size as her, so she lent Tracy her wedding dress.
"Another volunteer made a cake, another volunteer iced the cake, and we even arranged for them to have some of their pictures taken on a Harley Davidson, which fulfilled one of Tracy's dreams.
"She died around seven or eight days later.
"On another occasion, a patient had two Shire horses and he was desperately worried about who was going to look after them after he passed away. So we arranged to have one of the horses brought to the hospice.
"The look on the patient's face was something I will never forget. He died the next day and he was happy and at peace."
When the Lord Mayor of Leeds and Sir Jimmy Savile attended the official opening of the hospice on June 21, 1978, Sir Jimmy said: "We are all very lucky to be standing here.
This is not going to be a sad, quiet place, it's going to be one of fun and happiness."
And although the hospice, which is supported by the Yorkshire Evening Post's Half and Half Appeal along with St Gemma's Hospice in Moortown, has changed enormously since it first opened, Mary said the quality of care had remained the same.
As well as providing 18 beds for patients who need round-the-clock care, the hospice also has a team of community nurses who help patients in their own homes and a day hospice, offering art therapy, aromatherapy and reflexology.
Volunteer Maureen Bray, 69, who sorts and sells all the donated clothes, is another helper who has witnessed all the changes to Wheatfields over the past 30 years.
The grandmother, who started volunteering after her uncle was cared for at the hospice, said she felt "humbled" by the work of the charity, which was taken over by Sue Ryder Care in 2000.
"The support here is amazing," she said. "I've had quite a few relatives and friends who have been looked after here and it's just like one big family. That's the impression you get as soon as you walk through the door."
Although long-standing volunteers like Maureen are important, staff at Wheatfields are also celebrating the landmark 30th birthday by recruiting 30 new volunteers, who will be taking up roles in the hospice and the community.
One of the new helpers is 16-year-old Ellie Cheah, who will be joining her older sister Kerry, 21, in the in-patients unit.
The teenager wants to follow in the footsteps of her sister, who is studying medicine at the University of Leeds.
"I thought it would be a good idea to bring her along for experience," Kerry said.
"Working at Wheatfields is great for experience but it's also about working for a worthwhile cause. I came here for six months about two years ago and I've just stayed on because it was so fabulous.
"All the nurses and the staff are so lovely. They do a really worthwhile job taking in people who need that little bit of extra care."
* For more information about volunteering at Wheatfields or to make a donation, call 0113 278 7249 or visit: www.suerydercare.org/wheatfields hospice
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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