Lady Jean Stoddart awarded OBE in New Year Honours list #hospiceheroes

Lady Jean Stoddart, who was awarded the OBE in the recent New Year’s Honours list, retired as President of Wirral Hospice St John’s in November 2014, after a decade in the position.

Only the second person to hold the role, Lady Stoddart took it on already knowing the Hospice well:  she was present in June 1983, when her husband, the then Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Wing Commander Sir Kenneth Stoddart, opened it.

During her tenure, Wirral Hospice St John’s has undergone many changes and improvements.  In 2009, a purpose-built, state-of-the-art Outpatient Services building was built, and, just last year, the refurbished and enlarged Day Therapy Unit opened.

“It is entirely appropriate that Lady Stoddart has received the OBE,” said Dr Paul Cuthbertson MBE, Chairman of Wirral Hospice St John’s Board of Trustees. “Quite apart from the other charitable works to which she has dedicated her life (particularly Ronald McDonald House), she has been an invaluable source of wisdom and practical help to everyone at the Hospice. She has taken a particular interest in our volunteers, without whom the Hospice would struggle to operate.”

We give grateful thanks to Lady Jean Stoddart OBE DL, truly one of our #hospiceheroes!