A DEDICATED Ardgowan Hospice volunteer who has first hand experience of its ‘amazing’ services has urged others to consider giving up their time to the vital charity as the nation marks Hospice Care Week.
Myra Potter has held various volunteer roles at the hospice since 2010, having first become involved in the organisation after her retirement the previous year.
She has shared her story as part of Hospice Care Week, which runs until October 13 and seeks to celebrate hospices across the country.
The 75-year-old says she has loved her 14 years working with the group - and has lifted the lid on how her hospice family supported her when she fell ill with breast cancer in 2019.
She said: “The amount of support I got was amazing. Because I’d been here quite a while, you know quite a lot of people.
“I went for my mammogram and there was nothing external. I’d actually never heard of the condition I had. It was called DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ).
“It was only found because I went for my mammogram, and I would most certainly encourage everyone to go for theirs.”
Myra made use of the hospice’s patient transport service, which helps ferry locals to and from their appointments.
She told the Tele: “I had surgery and then had to go to the Beatson for treatment for a month. Every day I got my list of appointment times. I gave it to the hospice’s transport coordinator and a driver would turn up and take me there.
“The way the system works is so slick. They know the roads, they chat to you, and they get you there in plenty of time.
“The drivers were all fantastic. If there were other people in the car I chatted to them too and got to know them.
“I could talk to people in here about it too. One of the nurses showed me how to do a hand massage, and when I went to go and see one of my best friends, who had been diagnosed with a brain tumour, we'd have lunch and I’d give her that wee hand massage.
“I wasn’t working during that period, but they always kept in touch and made sure I was OK.
“A couple of the girls even came to the house and brought lunch.”
Myra, who spent much of her working life in finance and human resources, initially joined the hospice to work in its voluntary services department.
While there, she helped deal with volunteer receptionists, patient transport and following up on references for people who’d applied to volunteer.
However, Myra became more involved in the financial side of the hospice’s operation after she came in to drop off funds she'd raised for the organisation through a Christmas stall at her granddaughters’ school.
She explained: “I came in to deposit the money and the finance department were short of cashiers, so I ended up in fundraising and finance.
“That continued right up until Covid.
"I was also on the fundraising committee. We helped the fundraisers who put forward an event, and I would do things like go and get raffle tickets. I worked at the ball and the ladies' day.
“After Covid, lots of the systems in here had changed. Every week I’d worked in finance, but I did all the fundraising things, like the bag packs and the bucket collections, and all that good stuff on the side.
“As the lockdowns eased, I got a message from finance asking me to come in, and that was me back.
“My main job now is on a Thursday. I come in and do the banking for the hospice, but they opened the bookshop in Gourock last year and I describe that as my happy place.”
Myra told the Telegraph that she loves spending her time volunteering at the hospice’s Kempock Street bookstore, working alongside other staff to keep the shelves organised and the customers happy.
She says her time as a hospice volunteer has given her a great group of people to talk and to work with, and has also been a rewarding experience.
"Anything I’m doing here as a volunteer allows someone else to do something else, as in the paid staff," she said.
“I’m not doing it for glory or anything. I’m doing it because I am contributing to my community.
“If you work with nice people, which I do in all of the departments, it’s a brilliant thing.
“There’s a nice atmosphere here and we have lots of great, friendly people. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel like they couldn’t come here.
“The hospice has got a good reputation in the town, but to a lot of people it means the end of life. It’s actually so much more than just that.
“I would say to anyone out there, don’t be afraid of the hospice, it’s a great place to come and spend your time.”
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