Hospiscare's Diamond Champion happy to help

When the letter from the WRVS landed on her doormat, Mary Bolshaw, from Honiton, almost dropped it straight into the recycling with some leaflets. But something made her open it - and to her surprise she discovered she had been appointed one of the charity’s 60 Diamond Champions from across the South and South West of England, an area stretching from Cornwall to Oxfordshire.

The WRVS celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee by searching for the UK’s Diamond Champions - older people (over the age of 60) who give their time to improve the lives of those around them. In all, 4,573 people were nominated as Diamond Champions, representing 249 charities.

Mary was nominated for the award by a fellow Hospiscare volunteer, Lesley Weeks, for the incredible amount of work she does for the charity, which provides end-of-life care for local patients and their families.

“It was a bit of a surprise. I knew that Lesley had nominated me, but I thought there were so many other people far more deserving than me,” Mary, 69, said with a smile. “There were over 620 nominations from our area.”

She attended an event in Bristol on 25 October, where she was presented with a specially designed Diamond Champions pin and a certificate signed by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

At this regional celebration, ten Diamond Champions were chosen by a judging panel to join 70 others from across the UK at an event to be held at St James’s Palace in London on 29 November, where they will meet their Royal Highnesses. 

“After we had all received our badges, they announced that this was the moment we had all been waiting for and put ten chairs at the front. They said that if our name was called we were to come and sit there while they read the citation. The first name to be called was mine. It was a real shock and all a bit of a blur after that,” she said.

“I’m really excited about the trip to London, but without Sue Gibson and Carole Sexton, who are the mainstays of my catering team, it wouldn’t have been possible. It’s only through teamwork that everything gets done.”

Mary, a retired caterer, volunteers for over 30 hours a week for Hospiscare, doing mainly catering, but also driving, public speaking and fundraising. She has been involved with the charity for its 30 years of existence and says she is happy to do anything needed. “If someone rings up and says,‘can you do...’ well I just say yes, because you never know what’s round the corner, do you? That’s what it’s all about,” she says.

Along with her team she provides a lunch in Honiton once a month, which people just turn up to, and a supper once a month, which is a booked event. The choice is vast - this month’s lunch menu featured five main courses and seven puddings.

“We also cater at bargain events a couple of times a month and once every six weeks we cater at Chilcotts auction rooms in Honiton, with all proceeds going towards Hospiscare - we have raised over £2,000 from Chilcotts alone in a relatively short space of time. As long as it’s to do with flour and water, then I can put it together and get on with it. I’m just happy to be helping Hospiscare.”