Liverpool Hospital volunteers notch up 60 years of service combined

When Kathleen Chantler and Elizabeth Winner started out as volunteers at Liverpool Hospital, didn’t think they’d still be there 30 years later.

Kathleen Chantler and Elizabeth Winner have both notched up 30 years of volunteering at Liverpool Hospital. Picture: Melvyn Knipe

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Kathleen Chantler and Elizabeth Winner have both spent more than three decades volunteering at Liverpool Hospital.

The pair are among 100 volunteers who dedicate 20,000 hours a year.

When they first started, they’d wash hair, take patients to rooms, take the tea trolley around the wards and put clean water in flower arrangements for patients and they were called the ‘Pink Ladies’.

Now with a more inclusive approach, male volunteers also make up the Liverpool Hospital Volunteer Group, working in palliative care, the library, manning the buggy to take elderly patients to different sections in the hospital and working with staff, patients and their families.

Ms Chantler, 75, from Villawood said a friend got her involved in volunteering at the hospital.

Kathleen Chantler and Elizabeth Winner said they love being able to help out at Liverpool Hospital as volunteers one day a week. Picture: Melvyn Knipe

“It was hard at first. I lost my daughter in a car accident in 1988 when she was 19. And I’d often see people after they’d had accidents — it was confronting seeing their injuries,” she said.

Ms Winner was a volunteer at the hospital before her first grand child was born. She now has nine great-grandchildren.

“It’s a family here. It’s so rewarding, you definitely get a lot out of it including friendships with other volunteers,” she said.

“When I lost my husband, if I didn’t have this (volunteering), I’d be lost.

“There are times when I’ve seen people here upset and just asked them if they want a hug. Sometimes it’s something simple like that to put a smile on someone’s face.”

Liverpool Hospital’s general manager Robynne Cooke said the volunteers do an amazing job.

“They are much-loved and needed,” she said.

“Our volunteers work tirelessly throughout the year, generously giving their time and effort to support our hospital.”

Volunteers wear a maroon coloured pinafore they wear over the top — this makes them stand out in the crowd.

Volunteers were given pots and seeds this week to symbolise the seeds of kindness they sew across the hospital each day.

More volunteers are needed. Call 8777 6225 to find out more.