A DEDICATED Liskeard resident is commemorating an extraordinary milestone - 50 years of volunteer service with Cornwall Hospice Care.

Throughout her half-century of commitment, Barbara Rogers has played a pivotal role in supporting the charity’s mission to provide specialist care for individuals with terminal illnesses across the county.

Barbara’s unwavering dedication has significantly impacted the local community, embodying the spirit of selfless service and compassion.

Recalling how she got her initial involvement, Barbara said: “In March 1975, I was working as a district Nursing Sister in Looe and in those days Polruan didn’t have their own district nurse, so we would have to cover if there was anything needing doing.

“As nurses we would take it in turns to cover Polruan and on one such occasion, I had to go and see a Mrs Enid Dalton-White MBE at her home address in Polruan. I took care of her twice a week for about two or three weeks, tending to an ulcer on her leg.

“It was on one of my visits that she said ‘Sister, Lady Mount Edgcumbe came yesterday for tea and she told me she had a vision that a hospice would be built in Cornwall and I’m going to ensure it happens, along with your help’.

“She told me to create a committee in Liskeard that could create funds, so that’s what I did. It was quite an influential committee, made up of the former mayor and his wife, the wife of the MP at the time, a councillor’s wife and a few others.

“We did lots of fundraising and I went to see Enid one day and I asked her ‘What are all these boxes?’ - to which she replied ‘Oh, those are yours by the door’.

“I told her I didn’t have room for them in my car, but she persuaded me to take 1,000 of them and put them on the back seat. These were paper bricks, with a glossy front and ten small pieces of paper, shopping-list size I would call it, that were stapled together, all for the sum of £1.

“In those days, £1 was quite a lot of money. I remember driving home wondering how was I going to sell all these bricks, but then I had a bit of brainwave and thought I know people in the Lions club, the Inner Wheel club, the Women’s Institute, even the Masons, and I dropped off ten bricks each to various organisations here in Liskeard.

“Within days, my phone was red hot, people saying they want more, so the demand was unbelievable. I went with volunteers to St Matthew’s Fair in Liskeard, the Honey Fair in Callington, Goosey Fair in Tavistock selling these bricks to help raise money for the hospice.

“The next time I went to see Mrs Dalton-White there were plant pots waiting for me. She told me to take ten of them to my friends who have gardens, get them to put a little cutting in them, then bring them back so she could sell them outside of her house.

“I had never seen so many tomato plants, but again it proved a great success.”

Mrs Dalton-White had nursed two husbands through cancer and was passionate about providing the right care at the right time and place. Her determined fundraising started when she opened her gardens in the village of Polruan to the public.

With enormous commitment and dedication, Mrs Dalton-White worked tirelessly with fellow supporters, including Barbara, to find the money. She was finally rewarded on October 6, 1980, when Mount Edgcumbe Hospice, built on the outskirts of St Austell, opened its doors to patients.

Mrs Dalton-White was awarded an MBE in recognition of the services to Mount Edgcumbe Hospice in HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honours list in June 1982.

Barbara’s own early involvement led to her being part of the committee, but it was in 1988 that she got her first experience of working in the Hospice Care shop in Liskeard.

“I went in to help as they were short one weekend and I’ve been here ever since,” explained Barbara. “At one stage they wanted to try and pay me and I said ‘no thanks’ - I’m more than happy being a volunteer. I’m not here to take money from the patients, I can’t do that.

“Now, I just don’t know where the time has gone. I went to the Hospice only last week and it still gives me such a great feeling, knowing that so many of us are helping to make a real difference to families all across Cornwall.”

Barbara’s sterling efforts over the many years have been heralded by Beverley Weller, the manager of the Liskeard branch of the Cornwall Hospice Care shop.

“She is the glue about the place, a real part of the furniture here,” said Beverley. “Barbara is simply amazing and part of what is a great volunteer team that we have here in Liskeard.

“The shop is busy, it’s constant, and for all of us we know that the money we raise here in Cornwall is, like Barbara said, helping to make a real difference.”

Cornwall Hospice Care is a 24/7 UK healthcare charity that provides compassionate, specialised end of life care for patients, their families and carers. Together with the local community, they aim to ensure every day matters to those whose lives the hospice touch.

They offer inpatient care at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice in St Austell and St Julia’s Hospice in Hayle, Lymphoedema clinics, community support hubs, as well as bereavement services.

All of these comes free, thanks to the Cornish community who, through people like Barbara, have generously supported the work of the charity for over four decades.

Cornwall Hospice Care is overseen by its Chief Executive Officer, Paul Brinsley, who joined the charity in 2005, having previously held CEO roles in other charities.

He is the Care Quality Commission nominated responsible individual for the charity, giving him overall responsibility for the care and services provided.