Cooking up a storm. Hospice Cook of over 33 years Margie Connor has a big birthday

Margie receives her 30 years service award from His Honour John Roberts

You’ll often hear Margie Connor before you see her. She has a raucous laugh and her friends, old and new, around the hospice departments will tell you; “It’s not a party until Margie arrives.”

She’s been with the hospice for over 33 years now and she is, simply, part of the fabric.

As a hospice cook for all those years Margie’s been instrumental in the glowing feedback we often hear from patients about the mouth-watering home-cooked, traditional, dishes that she’s renowned for; bacon ribs, lamb hearts, liver, corned beef hash, sausage and mash, roasties and, the best scouse this side of the Mersey!

Soups, quiches, scones and cakes? Yes please. All part of Margie’s repertoire. Delicious!

She’s 70 in May and still going strong so we wanted to find out a little bit more about her.

She’s from Scotty Road (as people often refer to the famous Scotland Road in Liverpool). Christened at St Anthony’s church her family moved out to Kirby when she was four and it was just over 14 years later when, love at first sight, she was married to Mike at Holy Angels church.

They celebrated 50 years of marriage in 2022 and Mike is often with Margie at hospice events and occasions. Their four children, Ian, David, Andrea and Lyndsey have now also added 11 grandchildren, oldest is Matthew 28, right down to Hannah who is 5. Margie knows all their ages and can reel them off by heart, but we’re just telling you their names; Matthew, Jack, Abbie, Chloe, Lucy, Lily, Lucas, Kyle, Ella, Ben and Hannah). Wowser!

Early on in their marriage Margie and Mike got their passport to live over the water and have been here ever since.

So, just over 33 years ago, Margie saw the ad for a part-time cook at the hospice and has never looked back.

“We’ve all learned as we’ve gone along. Years ago volunteers were making pies and cakes that we would serve alongside the pre-packed old school ‘hospital food.’

Nowadays everything is lovingly cooked, with fresh ingredients and, when we can, to patients’ personal preferences.

I love the hospice. What could be so basic but so fundamental to all of our lives, but food? It’s a special privilege every single time somebody complements me or the team on what we’ve prepared. It really is the best job I could imagine, working with the most committed, dedicated people in the world.”

Margie has made a lot of life-long friends from her time at the hospice, some young and some, a little, older.

In the hospice’s 40^th anniversary year, last year, one of the original ward sisters, Mo Hemmings, joined us and the genuine embrace she gave to Margie was wonderful.

From New York trips and cruises with long time, some now retired, staffers, to the most recent Hen weekend with our own caterer and healthcare assistant Nic Thomas and (mainly) some younger friends. What goes on tour, stays… (all over FaceBook haha!)

In all cases Margie makes or joins in the fun.

She’s also been involved in a lot of fundraisers. Watching Margie in an It’s a Knockout event the hospice organised only a few years ago was more testament to her ability to get stuck in but also be one of the leading cheerleaders for raising funds for her team.

Others, she remembers with great fondness have been the dragon boat race on the River Dee and a hospice Firewalk. You just know, faced with walking barefoot over the roasting hot coals for the hospice, that yes, yes, yes, Margie would definitely go for it.

Whenever anyone is organising their own fundraiser Margie is the one rallying people to support her colleagues and friends.

A quick sweep of the hospice to ask people to describe Margie in a word, or a sentence, brings almost instant responses;

Passionate and caring, conscientious, clean freak (everything gets pulled out and she cleans it), an essential human being, she loves the hospice, salt of the earth, there’s only one Margie, if you cut her she’d have hospice written all the way through like a bar of rock, heart of gold, great fun but also full of traditional values, she always puts on a proper nice spread and… she’d do anything for you”

A senior hospice nurse who went to school with Margie’s oldest son Ian said, “I’ve known her since I was 4 years old, she’s just Margie, she’s always been there.”

 And, now, Margie is turning 70 having given so much service to the hospice and, by extension, our whole Wirral Community.

Many Happy Returns Margie thank you for everything you have done and continue to do.