Volunteer Messengers Mike & Charles try out a session in Creative Therapy

By the time it reached lunchtime Charles had been to the hospital twice to drop off blood tests, Mike had been to Runcorn to drop off some suitable donated items for auction, visited Stockton Heath, Golden Square and Latchford shops and dropped off some items at our Lovely Lane shop!

“Anything that’s needed for the hospice, we do,” explained Charles who has been volunteering for ten years now.  “I even popped to Tesco the other day for emery boards that they needed for a patient to have their nails done!”

Charles became a volunteer after choosing St. Rocco’s as his charity when he took up the captaincy at Blundells Hill Golf Club. His first wife had died from cancer in 1983 before hospice care was available in Warrington and his daughter suggested supporting St. Rocco’s when he became captain. Through this he met Mike and, as they both put it, “we’ve been mates ever since!”

Mike’s been involved with St. Rocco’s for over 26 years, firstly as a volunteer, then as a member of the fundraising team and for the last ten years as a volunteer once more. In that time he has raised thousands and thousands of pounds to support patient care. He is well known for his supply of plants and hanging baskets which get snapped up almost before he gets them through the doors of the hospice!

“Over the years I’ve built up a good relationship with Moss Bank Nurseries which started when we were based in the original hospice building. I also have a stall at Culcheth Community Day. Charles helps me and this year we sold over £4,400 worth of plants and hanging baskets.”

In their time as volunteers they have done all sorts of things to help out, including taking part in Christmas pantomimes for patients and dressing in dinner jackets to escort models onto the catwalk at a St. Rocco’s fashion show. Mike has even been sponsored to walk round Lymm Dam dressed in a camel outfit!

So it was no surprise that they agreed to take part in the Volunteer Week role swap this year. They are already familiar faces in our creative therapies room where they like to have a chat with the patients and creative therapy volunteers, but this week they got involved in the making side of things. Charles was so pleased with his finished result that he made a donation so that he could take it home.

So why do they enjoy being St. Rocco’s volunteers?

“We just love the place,” said Charles.

“I’ve loved every minute of my time with St. Rocco’s,” said Mike.

They state that, when the time’s right, they will both retire from volunteering together but, given how much they do, that time would appear to be a long way off!