Maths is more than just numbers. Meet volunteer David Vale PHD

It gets busy around the hospice reception every weekday afternoon. It’s lunchtime and there’s a steady stream of visitors to our Hub Café, as well as suppliers, delivery drivers, staff going about their daily duties, new patients arriving with family members accompanying or visiting them.

So, if you’re ever around on a Thursday between 12noon and 3pm you’re likely to see or be greeted by friendly volunteer receptionists, Trish and David.

Trish is a former hospice Trustee who we’ll be featuring in a future piece, but she was delighted to turn the spotlight over to her colleague David who has now volunteered at the hospice for 10 years. Brilliant!

Our volunteers have invariably had interesting lives and, like everyone we meet they start off by saying,

“Nobody is going to want to know about me!”

Well, of course we do, our volunteers are the lifeblood of the hospice without whom we’d have to reduce our services.

And, when David says he obtained his mathematics degree from Liverpool University, and went on to Manchester to complete his PHD, we’re interested more quickly than you can say, Pythagoras’ Theorem.

David’s a doctor. Of maths. Brilliant!

He’s from North Manchester originally, Failsworth, and there must be something in the water there which affects people’s affinity to another hard subject, chemistry. You see, he built his career with chemicals giants ICI and lived within 100 yards of Manchester United’s (current) owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder of global chemicals company, INEOS! The Chemical Brothers?

David also supports Man Utd, but we’ll gloss over that!

ICI came later but David loved his time at Liverpool University, living in digs in Aigburth. It was a great time to be alive. A time when people would be able to see The Beatles, Cilla Black and other famous singers and bands at The Cavern Club before they became massive, and David saw them regularly. Doooooooo!!!

He even saw The Beatles when THEY supported Brenda Lee. Wow, so that was why he was, and still is, rocking around the Christmas tree, if you know, you know, with his childhood sweetheart and wife, Susan.

Then, ICI took him all over the world. From Hyde, London, Welwyn Garden City and then finally, to ICI’s spiritual home, Runcorn!

Seriously, where his offices were based is true but, as he rose through the ranks, his job as metals purchasing manager took him to Australia, Canada, India, Europe, The Far East, Taiwan and Singapore.

In the 1990’s ICI began to divest some of its companies so that by 1995, David, at only 50 years of age was able to accept a well earned (he’d earned ICI a packet after all) redundancy/retirement package.

Of course, David wasn’t ready for actual retirement. He worked as a consultant for several more years before helping to set up Scottish chemicals company Ceimig, where he became managing director before, real, full-time retirement 10 years ago!

His ICI work base at Runcorn had led him and Susan to want to lay down roots and they settled in Parkgate in 1987, where they’ve been ever since.

Son, Andrew, has brought grandchildren, George and Reggie, while daughter, Caroline, has Ella and Xavi.

His garden was looking good, but David wanted to do a bit more and, after reading an article on Wirral Hospice St John’s, he made an application here to volunteer his time.

He’s worked on both outpatients and main reception, and he is a sage, alongside Trish, and friendly welcoming face.

David told us what he thinks of Wirral Hospice,

“As a volunteer here, I feel valued and respected, like a part of the team, which is important.

The place is absolutely fantastic. It’s been my privilege to witness, countless times, how the nursing and medical staff, and everyone who supports them, show real empathy and care from the moment a patient enters the building.

I know the place well now, although I admit it was an eye-opener initially. I suppose I expected it to be quite a sombre place, but I was and continue to be knocked out by a how warm, smiley and upbeat everybody is.

When you think about it, why not?

Patients obviously have the challenges their illnesses bestow, but they are, after all, also people who have lived a life like all of us with lots of love and laughter. The ethos here is clear to me that this should, as far as possible, continue.

Of course, at the right time, there is a deep well of the kind of compassion, dignity and respect that you have probably heard about too.”

Well said David and thank you for your insight and your valuable time. Did we mention that David has just reached his ten-mile milestone at the hospice?

He proves, maybe because he’s a Doctor of Mathematics, that the hospice is greater than the sum of its parts.

If you’d like to volunteer at the hospice or in your community at one of our charity shops follow the links at www.wirralhospice.org/volunteering or email volunteering@wirralhospice.org or call 0151 334 2778 and ask for volunteer services