Shining a light on hospice support. Leasowe Lighthouse abseiler Alan explains why he went ‘over the top’ for the hospice.

Alan and Linda Hodson were together for the best part of 50 years.

Starting as friends, their love grew after merchant seaman Alan had decided to put down roots, weigh anchor as it were, in Oxton in the mid ‘70’s. They were married in 1979.

Work, including subsequent jobs in offshore oil, would still take Alan on his further travels, but Lyn (as Alan calls her) preferred holidaying with her feet firmly on terra firma. Membership of the National Trust alongside their shared love of photography meant that they preferred the UK for their favourite breaks together.

They particularly liked the harbour town of Seahouses on the Northumberland coast where Lyn could observe life from the mainland while Alan would take the short boat trip, got to maintain those sea legs, over to the Farne Islands.

On the beach at Bamburgh in the North East

Alan describes a gentle, loving marriage. He smiles recalling his fond memories of Lyn while he also shows some understandable emotion when he explains,

“After Lyn had been ill and in pain for some time and had spent time at Arrowe Park Hospital for tests, we thought it may be kidney stones, it was truly devastating when it was confirmed in December 2023 that she had stage 4 liver cancer.

That Christmas time and New Year came and passed by almost like any other year but by mid-January 2024 it was becoming increasingly clear that Lyn’s cancer was progressing.”

Some great support from both Alan and Lyn’s own GPs and from the hospital when she was able to get a bed helped immensely and it was from the end of February 2024 that they began to receive support visits from our Hospice at Home health care assistants. Alan continues,

“The Hospice at Home team were a Godsend. I really don’t know how we would have coped otherwise.

Lyn was in safe hands, and I could get a little respite time to meet with my photography group and our fellow enthusiasts at the Association of Lighthouse Keepers (ALK).

The ladies were absolutely attentive to Lyn and allowed me to spend a little bit of time trying to keep things normal for us. They were brilliant.”

Sadly, Lyn died on June 20^th, 2024.

Alan describes the following weeks as passing, almost in a haze. A lot to organise and the loss hadn’t quite hit him. He was doing okay.

“I really was doing fine. I think I hadn’t taken time to process things but then one Friday it came over me and I confess I was a gibbering heap.

Maybe it was a sign at the time, but I had put the letter offering bereavement support from the hospice to one side. Then it jumped out from the pile of stuff to do, and I re-read it.

Alan flanked by Sheila and volunteer Geoff

By the following Tuesday I was sitting with hospice bereavement support coordinator, Sheila.

Wow! In just one hour I felt like I had a ton-weight lifted. I really let it all out. There was no judgement just real listening, understanding, insight.

After another half hour session with Sheila, I was introduced to the bereavement support group, which is facilitated by Sheila and Geoff (trained bereavement support volunteer) and I began to see that I wasn’t the only person going through profound grief.

I soon ‘graduated’ to the bereavement walking group and have now built a bond with people who have become good friends.

Being out and about in nature whiling away a few hours in good company really works.”

As a member of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers (ALK), Alan has become friends with people in the local group, particularly with trustee Stephen Pickles and his wife, Mandy, an archivist, based at Bidston Lighthouse. He is now a volunteer, helping the association to upload all of their archived material into digital storage.

He’s now also a volunteer for the Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse,

“Earlier this year I decided to challenge myself and also see if I could raise a little money to say thank you to the hospice.

In March I’d joined the Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse after attending an open day.

The people were so friendly and welcoming and, as I’m available to volunteer whenever the lighthouse is open to the public, they keep thanking me for helping out. Honestly, it is they who are helping me.

It was attending the abseil event at the lighthouse in March,  as an observer, that fired my imagination to have a go! So, I signed up to do the abseil on Saturday 14^th June.

As the time approached I became a little more nervous but once I was committed, and people had started to make some kind donations, I couldn’t back out.

One hundred and thirty steps up to the pinnacle and then, helped by the professional instructors from Abseil UK, I was ready to go over the top.

Wow! It was an exhilarating experience. Over 100 feet descent, kicking off on two feet, suspended by a rope, down the walls of our famous local lighthouse.

I knew Lyn would have been proud. Laughing, but proud. I was elated. It felt like such an achievement.”

It WAS a fantastic achievement, Alan.  

Everyone at the hospice, your friends in the ALK, the photography group and the bereavement support and walking groups congratulate you and thank you wholeheartedly.

Thank you, sir.

Would you consider doing an abseil or other exciting challenge for Wirral Hospice St John’s?

Visit www.wirralhospice.org/eventsandcompanies to see how you might get involved.