A DEDICATED volunteer who has spent almost four decades serving a hospice, has been honoured with an award.

Clare Norton, from St John’s, has been nominated by St Richard’s Hospice to receive the Badge of the Order of Mercy at a ceremony at The Mansion House in London.

The award recognises volunteers who have spent at least seven years supporting others, including those with a life limiting illness. Only 50 of these medals are awarded each year.

Mrs Norton was a founding governor of St Richard’s Hospice and has been a volunteer since it opened in 1984. Since then, she has had a variety of roles, including providing therapies, transporting patients, volunteering within the community and fundraising.

She said : “It has been a privilege and very rewarding volunteering for St Richard’s Hospice; playing a small part in its growth from the beginning in Jenny Bulman’s back kitchen to the fine building we have today and with its ever expanding influence and contribution to society. The hospice movement has been a significant part of my life and it is a huge honour to receive the League of Honour award.”

Mrs Norton trained as a nurse in Birmingham at a time when staff were not allowed to mention cancer or acknowledge that a patient had a terminal illness. This developed her passion for end of life care and she went on to train in specialist palliative care in London.

By 1984 she had moved to Worcestershire with her husband and they became aware of the plan to start a hospice. She was involved in the preparation stages and was one of the few people at the first planning meeting with extensive experience of hospice care.

St Richard’s initially opened as a ‘Hospice at Home’ community-based service from the Droitwich home of Dr Jenny Bulman and Mrs Norton was a volunteer nurse in the early days.  

The hospice soon acquired premises in a small terraced house in Worcester and opened its Day Hospice services in 1988.  Clare continued to volunteer in both the new Day Hospice and community.

In the 1990s, Clare went on to train as a complementary therapist and used her skills to provide aromatherapy and massage treatments to Day Hospice patients from 1998 until 2012.  She also served as Chairman of Governors and was instrumental in the move to new premises at Rose Hill which was opened by Diana Princess of Wales in 1992.

Clare continues to volunteer until this day.

June Patel, Chief Executive of St Richard’s Hospice, said: “We are humbled and honoured that Clare has received such recognition from the League of Mercy Foundation.  She has given almost 38 years of continuous and devoted service to patients and their families facing life limiting illnesses in Worcestershire.  She is an outstanding ambassador of hospice care and her dedication and service to St Richard’s over four decades is truly exceptional.   Thank you Clare and for all those who give their time freely.”

To become a hospice volunteer call the HR and Volunteers department on 01905 763963 or visit www.strichards.org.uk/volunteering

St Richard’s Hospice provides free specialist palliative and end of life care for patients living with life-limiting illnesses and supports their loved ones. Each year the hospice team supports more than 3,300 patients, family members and bereaved people in Worcestershire.

The hospice strives to provide the best medical, practical, emotional and social support they can to help people live life to the fullest, as independently as they can, for as long as they can. They care for people with a range of illnesses including heart failure, Parkinson’s, and motor neurone disease as well as cancer.

St Richard’s is an independent charity and relies on donations for three quarters of its annual £8.8m income with the remainder from the NHS.

St Richard’s has launched the Build 2020 Appeal which aims to raise the final £1.4m needed to build a bigger hospice, enabling more patients and families to be cared for in Worcestershire.  The total cost for expanding and redeveloping the existing building in Wildwood Drive, Worcester, is £5.3m.

For more information about St Richard’s Hospice visit  www.strichards.org.uk