Joy Foster, who recently celebrated her 80th birthday, has been supporting Birmingham Hospice for many years, firstly as a member of our Nursing Team and more recently as a volunteer.
She started working at the Inpatient Unit at Selly Park in 2000, and worked there until her retirement six years later. Following brief periods volunteering in one of our shops, and on Reception, she helped out as a driver, bringing patients to the hospice.
A position then came up at what is now our Living Well Centre, where people with life-limiting illnesses get together to meet other people in the same position and offer each other mutual help and support, and she has helped out there ever since.
Joy said: “I became a staff nurse at the hospice in 2000, when I was getting towards the end of my career and wanted to get back to frontline nursing. The hospice was more about the Inpatient Unit then, with fewer patients in the community, but I did get to go out with the Hospice at Home teams a few times, which was very interesting.
“About a year after I retired, I tried the shop but it wasn’t my forte, and I helped out on Reception for a bit. An opportunity then came up to volunteer as a driver, picking people up from home and bringing them here. I found that very rewarding, going out and meeting people in their homes and talking to them as we came in.
“After a while, there was then the opportunity to do what we call hospitality at the Living Well Centre – helping with cups of tea and serving lunch, but mostly it’s about listening to people.”
Joy – who also takes part in a sponsored swim every year to raise funds for our hospice – has now been performing this role for 18 years and has no plans to give it up, as she can see first-hand how it benefits our patients.
She added: “It’s good to see people who might struggle to get here but feel better because they have. I think we understand people’s illnesses and don’t pretend it’s not going to hurt them or harm then – often, outside the hospice, people will say ‘it’ll be all right’ but we’re quite honest that actually, sometimes it won’t be and that’s OK. We’re a safe space where people can talk openly and honestly about their condition and how they feel.
“It gives me a reason to get up in the morning and it is rewarding because you’re helping people. As long as I’m fit enough, I will continue to do it because the ethos here isn’t going to change. We’ll continue to be there for people as much as possible, and you never know when it might be your turn to need this sort of help.”
