Night Owl: Wise Helen has been on a Wirral Hospice night shift for twenty five years.

There are some lines in the evocative Commodores’ hit song from the 1980’s which go,

‘Gonna be a long night,
It’s gonna be all right,
On the nightshift.’

These words must have been written for our health care assistant, Helen Marsh.

You see, Helen has just received her well-earned long service award after working for twenty-five years for Wirral Hospice St John’s. On nights.

Helen worked the night shift on our inpatients ward until 2013 and then, when we launched our Hospice at Home service, she moved to provide night visits for patients and their families in their own homes.

It was a career Helen will tell you she was born for although when she left school she didn’t know it.

Her sister, Maria, a retired midwife, had always tried to encourage Helen to go for her nursing qualifications when they were younger, but she actually started her working life at Craxton Wood Hotel in Cheshire and found her way to hospice care via a very scenic route.

Yes, Helen and her friend Julie secured a post at a small hotel in Grasmere, in the Lake District, and things were ticking along nicely until the end of the summer season.

It was then, wanting to stay amongst the wonderful scenery, that Helen took her first foray into caring. At a a lodge for the ‘active elderly’ near Grasmere she secured a carers’ role and began to spend time with older residents, sometimes without family, towards the end of their lives.

It was a vocation forming occupation and it lit the spark within her.

“I just thought people should have someone to talk to or have a hand to hold if they needed it during the night.”

When she met future husband, Chris, they moved to his hometown of Wigan and, at first, Helen volunteered for their local, Wigan and Leigh Hospice, doing general ward duties. When a job came up for a health care assistant, Helen jumped at the chance and soon she was fulfilling her career ambition.

Twelve happy years followed working at what had been an old vicarage, until the late 1990’s when Helen, Chris and young daughter, Emily, moved back to Wirral to support Helen’s mum, Marian, who was living with Alzheimer’s.

When she joined Wirral Hospice in 1999 Helen was, of course, a natural for the night shift but it also allowed her to do the drop off and pick up at school for young Emily.

Now Emily is thirty and, with childhood sweetheart Tom, together since they were thirteen, they now have a daughter, Isabel, who Nanny Helen dotes on.

Helen has supported and cared for literally thousands of patients down the years. One hospice supporter in recent years, Chris Seddon from Nook Mortgages, is especially grateful for the support she gave his dad, Colin, and all his family,

“As well as caring for dad we could talk about how we were feeling too. It was a great help.

In dad’s final couple of weeks, Helen’s natural compassion, while listening intently, had enabled him to open up about what he wanted and his wishes after his passing. He’d never spoken with us about that stuff because he never wanted the family to think about him not being around with, and for, us all.

Helen helped us so much to fulfil dad’s wishes.”

It’s a lovely testimonial and one of many for our Wise Night Owl, Helen.

Thank you so much for your dedicated service Helen, everyone associated with Wirral Hospice St John’s congratulates you on your magnificent twenty-five years’ service.