Dot House says 'thanks for your help' (From Wiltshire Times)

Dot House says 'thanks for your help'

6:20pm Thursday 11th June 2009 in Latest News By Victoria Ashford

Long-serving volunteers at the Winsley-based Dorothy House Hospice have been recognised for their dedicated service at a special ceremony last Thursday.

Certificates were presented to nearly 30 volunteers who have devoted 10, 15 or 20 years of their lives, either with the hospice or the network of charity shops across the county, including Bradford on Avon, Corsham, Warminster, Westbury, Trowbridge and Melksham.

Chairman of trustees Sheila Reiter, who presented the certificates, said: “Dorothy House wouldn’t be able to run a retail operation without our volunteers – we have 500 working in our 19 shops. We also have 250 volunteers based at Winsley. In total, our volunteers save us more than £1m every year.”

Ann Jones, 61, of Bowerhill, Melksham, worked in the Melksham shop for six years and then took a four-year break before returning for another decade of service.

She said: “It is very nice there. You meet lots of nice people and make friends and have a joke with people.

“Friendship has kept me here all these years, and my mother died from breast cancer in 1965 so it has a lot of relevance to me.”

Voluntary services manager Phillipa Huxtable said: “Volunteers work in all kinds of roles – from making suppers for in-patients and driving day patients to and from their weekly sessions at the hospice to providing complementary therapies and working in the gardens. Their contribution is priceless.”

Among the volunteers receiving awards was Bernard Wilkins, who lives in Southwick, near Trowbridge, and is a regular driver for the day patient unit.

Mr Wilkins, 74, became a volunteer 10 years ago.

He said: “One of the best things about working as a volunteer driver is picking someone up at the end of the day and seeing such a difference in their mood: they get such a lift from being in the day patient unit. It does make it very worthwhile and gives a real sense of purpose to the day.”