VOLUNTEER VACANCIES

We always say the volunteers are the back-bone of Dove Cottage. We couldn't do all that we do without their help and can't thank them enough for their support and dedication. If you have a few hours a week to spare, perhaps you could consider the following:

Drivers are needed to use their own car to either collect or return people from Dove Cottage to their homes. Full training and support is given as is of course a mileage allowance.

We also need local volunteer drivers to drive our vehicle which accommodates a wheelchair. Again full training and support is given. All we ask is that you are over 25 and hold a clean driving licence.

Are you able to cook a simple 3-course meal for about 20 peo- ple? We have a vacancy for one Wednesday a month, together with some holiday cover. We have a very well equipped kitchen and will help in any way we can.

Are you any good at 'odd jobbing'? There's always lots of jobs that need doing, maybe cleaning our vehicle, painting sheds or putting shelves up. Just perhaps half a day per week would be such a help to us.

Do you enjoy washing-up? If so, perhaps you would like to come and do ours after lunch one day a week. It really would be so helpful.

CHRIS'S CORNER

As always its been an exciting time at Dove Cottage lately. December saw our 10th birthday with a large celebratory party being held. It was so good to see so many of you who have supported us over the years in so many different ways. It really was a night to remember. Inevitably we all took a trip down memory lane. remembering how we had started in such a small way back in 1996, how we have grown over the years and all the very special people we have met on the way.

It would be so easy just to sit back and say 'we've done it' but there's always so much more we would like to achieve. We always seem to be full to capacity nowadays and to this end we have just started converting an existing barn to improve the facilities on offer to our guests and staff. A new complementary therapy room is being planned, as well as a second, quieter lounge for people to enjoy. People have been so very generous donating to this latest project. None more so than a lady called Marjorie Denton Heath who sadly died recently but so very generously left a large portion of her estate to local hospices, £50,000 of which came to Dove Cottage. What a wonderful lady she must have been. I still feel so very humbled when I open tlie post and donations like that just fall onto my desk. As you probably know Dove Cottage has always been a project of faith inspired by God who promised to provide for us right from the very beginning. 1 know He heard my prayer when I stood up in church last November and asked for people to pray for the £50,000 we were lacking for this new extension. It was only a matter of a few weeks later when Mrs Heath's cheque arrived. It's so good to know how much God cares and provides for us all if we only just trust Him.

Dove Cottage, however, is not really about buildings and money, it's about looking after and supporting very special people. Our guests, their families and carers. They deserve the very best we can offer and that includes excellent facilities and services, all of which obviously cost money. How ever you have supported us over (lie past ten years, I can't say thank you enough. We couldn't have done it without you. Here's to the next ten years!

THE BACK-ROOM BOY !

For over ten years Charles Dallas has quietly been sat at home filling in funding appli- cations for us. During that time he has managed to generate over £250,000 on our behalf. A staggering amount. 80 year old Charles has had over 20 years experience in the hospice movement, working at both St Claire's in South Shields and St Cuthbert's in Durham. He says 'I am proud and privileged to be part of the Dove team. I became involved in September 1996 having just retired from the Bench and thought it would give me something to occupy my spare time. I have loved every minute.' Well, we've loved having you as part of our team Charles and can't thank you enough for all your hard work in raising such an impressive amount of money.

LEAVING A GIFT TO DOVE COTTAGE After providing for your family and friends, you may wish to leave a legacy to Dove Cottage. It costs nothing in your lifetime but could benefit so many people in the future. Always ensure you take appropriate advice before making or changing a will.

Some thoughts for the day!

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

And finally .... Why don't oysters give to charity

- Because they're shellfish!

Village Representatives

As ever we are always in need of a few extra pairs of hands to help us with things like displaying a poster, or bringing back a donation pot from a store. This will only be very occasionally perhaps once every two months. If you would do this in your village to help Dove Cottage please let us know.

COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES AT DOVE

All of our guests can enjoy their time at Dove Cottage in many different ways and many like to take advantage of our range of complementary therapies. At present, thanks to Brenda and Karen, our two professionally qualified voluntary therapists, we are able to offer reflexology, aromatherapy, beauty treatments and Indian head massage. Reflexology is performed by gentle massage to the hands or feet that aims to bring about calm and relaxation whereas aromatherapy is a massage performed in conjunction with the burning of natural oils like lavender and rosemary and is beneficial in easing muscular pain and bringing about relaxation. Indian Head massage is a wonderfully relaxing massage of the scalp, neck and shoulders much enjoyed by our guests along with perhaps a facial or make-over. So what do our guests think of it all? '1 love listening to the music whilst my aches and pains are soothed away, it's so very relaxing', 'It has really helped my mobility. 1 struggled to get up the stairs before, now I can manage them much more easily'. 'I've just had some reflexology, a facial and a shoulder massage. I just feel so refreshed and revitalized.' Thanks Brenda and Karen - you're doing a terrific job.

One of our trustees recounts memories of 10 years involvement with the development of Dove Cottage

It was autumn 1994 and 1 was just enjoying a cup of coffee after the church service when a friend came up to me and said "1 think God has just spoken to me". It wasn't unusual for me to hear something like that so 1 was genuinely interested to know what my friend had heard. I wasn't however prepared for what she told me. This was mega big, beyond what I considered to be her capabilities or anybody else's for that matter. Chris was a PA and I couldn't possibly be of any help to her coming from a teaching back- ground. So after a quick calculation of a few more major hurdles like she had no experience, no money, no building and to cap it all no qualifications specific to the job, it all seemed like one of those 'wouldn't it be great' ideas that never amount to anything. "That's a big vision. I think we had better pray about that" I replied. So began a journey of trust that transported me from an ordinary life, to embarking on one of the most rewarding projects 1 have ever been privileged to be involved with. 1 left church that morning pondering the thought of a Hospice in the Vale. "How could it become a reality?" The envisioning process had begun that morning and others were soon to catch the vision too.

Naivety can sometimes be an asset and it really seemed to work in our favour in those early days. Much of the planning and praying took place around my kitchen table. Of course in those days we weren't besciged with risk assessments. Had such legislation as exists today abounded then, we would still be dreaming a 'wouldn't it be nice' dream. Yet there was a process to birthing a Hospice and who belter to help than Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the Hospice movement. Unfortunately Dame Cicely was out of our league being a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, a Fellow of the Royal College ol'Nursing, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and at 76 she deserved not to be hounded by two novices with an incomplete plan. Her book, however, was a great inspiration and her struggle to establish the first Hospice encouraged us to keep going. Within weeks we had managed to co- opt three mure people who were willing to become Trustees, we arranged to see a Solicitor about forming a charity and we had our first Trustee meeting to formulate a business plan.

During the weeks and months that followed phone calls abounded to whoever we thought might be able to help. Chris would normally do the talking while I prayed for a favourable response. I set about rattling off prayer letters to every church and Christian group I could find. We needed a praying army covering every thing from provision to credibility among health professionals. I particularly remember Chris's phone call to Leicester Health telling us that their demographic figures showed no need for a Hospice in a rural backwater such as ours. Were we disappointed? You bet, being up stream without a paddle (i.e. no Health Authority backing) could mean the whole thing falling through! Were we ready to give up? No! We trusted that God knew better than any earthly authority, and since it was his idea in the first place we felt affirmed that a Hospice was really needed here. So we set about gathering our own statistics and surveyed all the GPs in a 10 mile radius. Well of course the results came back as no surprise. We had our confirmation.

Around the time of visiting other Hospices to get ideas, we were invited to Loros to find out what we were up to. Key people began to emerge and local Macmillan nurses were keen to support us. People were beginning to take us seriously and the following spring three of us were invited onto a palliative care course alongside the professionals. Amazingly none of this cost us a penny but while we were being trained up, there at the back of our minds was a recruitment process to launch, money to raise and most importantly a building to find.

"This has got to be the sow's ear" I thought when Chris told me on my return from holiday that summer "We have a building..... at Stathem Lodge!" "How on earth are we going to make a hospice out of that?"

To be continued in our next newsletter