#hospiceheroes Ruth & Olwen – the Gruesome Twosome

Ruth and Olwen helping at Light Up A Life

Two of our more infamous volunteers are known as the ‘Gruesome Twosome’ when they volunteer on general duties at Wirral Hospice. Ruth and Olwen met when they began volunteering and soon became fast friends. Between them they have been supporting the Hospice for over 23 years and when asked why they love to be here they describe the Hospice as a special, necessary and fantastic place which is welcoming and friendly.  Dedicated volunteers, they support general duties in the main Hospice, the Gift Shop in Fundraising, fundraising events, Reception in the Fundraising Office, and providing refreshments for the memorial services.  Like all our volunteers they like to be involved in much of the work the Hospice does.

Over the years the twosome have been involved in many capers, from dressing as scarecrows, to covering a stall creatively in crepe paper for a competition. Olwen nominated Ruth for ‘Volunteer of the Year 2010’ in the ‘Unwaged Volunteer’ category which Ruth went on to win.  They agree that volunteering at events have invariably ended up with hilarious stories, on one of the funniest occasions Olwen ended up soaked from the water from a marquee at a particularly wet event.

Olwen sewing one of the reindeer

Currently most of their time is dedicated to the creation of a wide selection of quality handmade gifts for their own stall at the Hospice Hobby & Craft Fair in Heswall on Sat 25th October (put the date in your diary!).  They began preparing in April and have been working hard at the design and creation of many items including reindeer (apparently these are causing both Ruth and Olwen nightmares – they won’t be at the 2015 craft fair!), Christmas decorations, Christmas stockings, peg bags, children’s aprons, cushions and other household goods.

Together they create amazing creative masterpieces – we can’t wait to see what these two Hospice Heroes come up with!

 Author: Jacinta Warwick