Joy joined Isabel Hospice 2 years ago as a volunteer administrator, bringing her wealth of experience having spent most of her career supporting senior executives at M&S’s Head Office in Paddington. In 1999, after her children had flown the nest, an unexpected career break came along, and Joy packed her backpack, grabbed her boots, and set off on a solo six-month trip around the world. She has the everlasting memory of standing next to Sydney Opera House as the new Millennium dawned. Back home in Hertfordshire, the call came, and Joy resumed commuting daily on the 6.30am train to London until 2012, when she finally retired.
Joy’s introduction to hospice care came when her sister Jan become ill and sadly died at St Christopher’s Hospice in Croydon. She saw how much care Jan had received and how much help hospices need, so she applied to Isabel Hospice and started working at Reception at our In-Patient Unit (IPU). After a brief period, she started volunteering with the Fundraising team, helping with the complex Charity administration that is required by law.
Joy continues to volunteer in the IPU, one day every fortnight as well as one day a week in Head Office. “It is good to be around the fundraisers, seeing how the funds needed to run the hospice are made” says Joy. “We need £7million every year to make sure we can look after everyone who needs us.”
A different skill set is needed when she is at the Hospice. “I see, when I’m at the Hospice, how much we help. We can see the relief on the visitors’ faces when they arrive. They are not coming in anxious, worried about how their loved one is being cared for; they are coming in knowing that their loved one is well looked after, possibly having been ill at home for a long time. There are terribly sad times of course – we are often devastated when the patients die – but it is still a privilege.”
If you would like to help fundraise for Isabel, please come along to our next information session on Tuesday 18th July 2023 starting at 5.30pm at Living Well Community Hub, Hall Grove, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 4PH. Please allow up to two hours. There is free parking onsite and refreshments will be available. Please email volunteer.office@isabelhospice.org.uk or call 01707 382500 #5.
