Lovely people to help us with our Christmas tree collections once again.

Published on: 13/12/2023

l-r: Nikki, Conan, Katie and Emma

l-r: Katie and Emma

Emma Lovely, lovely by name, lovely by nature (she’s never heard that before), rounds up her family and friends every year to help Wirral Hospice St John’s with our real Christmas tree collections.

They do it as a special thank you to the hospice as we supported her sister’s mother-in-law, Jane O’Driscoll, at the hospice in 2016 and early 2017.

Jane’s son, Conan, is married to Emma’s sister, Nikki, while Jane’s daughter, Katie Turnbull, has also become great friends with Emma down the years. They’re a splendid, supportive and close family, who, when you meet them, you understand how they get on so well.

They speak lovingly about Jane, how she loved days out with the family and short breaks, particularly to North Wales and a little cottage called Bron-Nant near Betws -y-Coed.

Jane’s Wellbeing Centre Painting

Jane

She’d accessed our Wellbeing Centre services in 2016 where she produced a lovely painting while sitting alongside other patients, who were her friends here, and it means so much to the whole family.

She really looked forward to coming to Wellbeing and then, when her cancer progressed later that year, she was admitted to our hospice Inpatients ward where she felt safe and well cared for by the hospice team.

Sadly she passed away on 10^th January, 2017. Her family is her proud legacy. As well as those we mentioned above, a sister Margaret and seven grandchildren, Heather, Niamh, Connie, Ella, Jake, Heidi and Jude, and two great-grandchildren Jenson and Reuben.

Conan does some heavy lifting

Conan works at Brookes Bell, a shipping company in Liverpool, and every year they cover the cost of hiring a large van to help with the tree collections.

There’s more of their family and friends involved , Emma and Nikki’s mum, Ruth, for instance and also, in no particular order, they shout out names of other willing volunteers who help or have helped the cause… Callum, Neil, Andrea, Peter, Tom, Connie, Ella, Clara…

Emma spoke for them all,

“We just love the hospice and supporting the Christmas tree collection effort is a really great way we can give something back towards the care and support we witnessed for ourselves when Jane was ill. The days themselves are such a laugh, we’ve seen some sights down the years from virtual twigs to 18 foot giant trees. We genuinely do wish it could be Christmas tree collection day, every day!”