Tributes are being paid to two retiring trustees who have together dedicated over 60 years to a hospice charity.
Keith Lomas and Jean Kelleway have served 44 and 18 years respectively as trustees of Macmillan Caring Locally, the charity which supports the Macmillan Unit, in the grounds of Christchurch Hospital, which provides specialist palliative care for around 1600 people each year.
As trustees, Keith and Jean have been responsible for helping to grow awareness and support for the charity’s work and spearheading successful fundraising campaigns, including the current Brick by Brick appeal to build a brand new, modern, fit for purpose hospice in the next few years.
Keith, 92, is a former chief executive and town clerk of Bournemouth Borough Council and became a Trustee of Macmillan Caring Locally in 1977.
Keith said: “I think I’ve stayed in the role for such a long time because the charity supports people who really need it and I’ve felt I can be of practical help.
“It was the first charity in the country to build a hospice in partnership with the NHS - and that is something to be proud of.
“The additional funds we raise are there to provide special extras to very sick patients which the NHS cannot provide – from final visits to their favourite football ground, to a welcomed gin and tonic in the late afternoon."
Jean trained in General Nursing and Midwifery in Bristol Hospitals in the early 1950s. After that, she spent seven years in the Kenya Colonial Nursing Service towards the end of the Mau Mau uprising.
Jean said: “I was originally the only woman on the Macmillan Caring Locally Board and believe I have been able to add a different and valuable perspective.
“There have been many highlights, including working with our wonderful staff, volunteers and supporters and visiting the now closed Grove Hotel which the charity funded, where I met people and their families who came from all over the country for respite care. I loved to see the joy in their faces.
“I am excited for the future of the charity and although I am now 89, I very much look forward to attending the opening of our fantastic new hospice in the next few years."
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