Cathy planning a UK Tour following her well-earned retirement

Now my friends the time has come to raise the roof (on Cathy Blundell’s and husband, Steve’s, touring caravan) and have some fun!

Yes, after a lifetime of secretarial and administrative duties for various organisations, Associated Octel, McAlpine’s Construction, Ellesmere Port Borough Council, Marie Curie and for the last 18.5 years, here at Wirral Hospice St John’s, Cathy is retiring.

She’s got many tales to tell but there’s a reason that the word secret is in secretary and Cathy is taking them all into retirement.

A knowing smile and mischievous wink and the subject is closed! Ha!

Cathy was born in Dublin and lived there until, as a two-year-old, her mum, Carmel, and dad, John, moved to Luton for his job at Vauxhall Motors in the town. By the age of ten Cathy was on the move again as John secured a role at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port factory.

Following through from secretarial studies at school and College at Carlett park in Eastham, Cathy’s first Youth Opportunities Scheme job was at Ellesmere Port Council and, it seems, administrative duties included digging holes for saplings on the M53 embankment as cars went whizzing past! Whoosh!

Despite that jeopardy, Cathy is a lover of the outdoors and you’ll often find her on sunny days eating her lunch and reading a book on a bench in the hospice courtyard.

Soon she’ll be off on the road with husband Steve in their 5-berth tourer taking in all the sights of the UK countryside. Or, will it be as experience has taught her, getting stuck on single track roads halfway up a mountain?

Former army, Signals, man Steve also worked in the car manufacturing business at Vauxhall and Ford so it’s a good job he knows a thing or two about shifting heavy metal!

At the hospice, Cathy carries out her duties at the nurses’ station on our Inpatients ward and is often the first person family members will greet when they enter the ward. It’s an important front-facing role and requires a welcoming, while empathetic, personal approach which Cathy demonstrates in abundance.

Of her time at the hospice Cathy says,

“I’ve seen so many changes as the services we provide have expanded massively, including the new inpatients ward building and supporting many more people in the community away from the hospice base at Clatterbridge.

I’ve also met so many friendly and fantastic people, staff and volunteers, I ljust ove chatting with them. They’re all so brilliant.

I’ll miss all the people but won’t miss OneDrive (a new fangled back up system for Microsoft).

I’m going to learn to cook properly, beyond my current meat and two veg limits, for when my sons, Robert and Simon and grandson Damian (17) visit, and also spend some more time gardening as well as getting out and about with Steve in the tourer.”

Enjoy every single minute of it Cathy and, thank you so much for your loyal service to the hospice.