VIDEO
Willen Hospice - Caring for Milton Keynes since 1981
In 2021 Willen Hospice celebrated its 40th anniversary. The following interviews were part of a Living Archive oral history project to capture the stories and memories of the people involved with the Hospice over the last 40 years. Thanks to a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we were able to present a film that commemorates 40 years of caring in Milton Keynes, from when the Hospice first opened its doors.
The documentary celebrates how a community came together to make the dream of a local Hospice into a reality, and how it has grown to become one of Milton Keynes’ best-loved charities, helping countless families over the years. From nurses to fundraisers – the film captures the stories of the people who make Willen Hospice such a special charity for the city of Milton Keynes.
Extent
21 Interview Summaries and 1 YouTube Video
Reference number
WHC
Storage location
Digital Archive
Records in this Collection
Brian was born in 1935 and first became involved with Willen Hospice when his wife was ill and was first admitted to the Hospice. She spent a total of 6 weeks at Willen. She had a beautiful room overlooking the lake and her family visited every day including her son coming over from Singapore with ...
Kathleen was born in 1937 and first became involved with the Hospice when she saw an advert for a cleaner. She applied and got the job and started work two weeks after it opened. She remembers the Sister, Jean Moore and Lady Rachel Duncan scrubbing floors and remembers there being lots of volunteers doing various ...
Kate was born in 1976 and came to Willen Hospice as a qualified nurse in 2001, left to have her first child and came back again in 2017 and works with the Willen at Home Team and so is community based. She feels she needed to adapt her skills whilst working at the Hospice and ...
Kimelomo was born in 1972 and has just started working at Willen Hospice as Director of Clinical Services, a role in which she ensures that everybody delivers the best care possible for the patients. She was a pharmacist but started working with palliative care patients in the community and so when this opportunity came up ...
Liz was born in 1955 and started volunteering at Willen around 10 years ago with the Friends of Willen Hospice. In the early days all the volunteers were trained by the Friends and in the 40 years that the Friends have been in existence they have raised 2.2 million pounds with events like horse racing, ...
Lynn was born in 1969 and started working at Willen Hospice in 2006 mainly responding with thanks to donors and organising the newsletter. Over the 16 year period at Willen she has worked in marketing and fundraising and various other roles and is very proud to work for Willen. Lynn particularly enjoys fundraising events such ...
Mike was born in 1945 and got involved with Willen in 1990 as a volunteer, initially delivering goods between the Willen shops, and then in a permanent fundraising position which was aiming to raise £1,000,000 for a new extension. This would take the hospice from 10 to 25 beds together with a new day centre. ...
Steve was born in 1953 and was the Hospice Chaplain for 19 years. The role involved him talking to patients and their families and answering questions when he could. He would also support the staff and volunteers when needed. Steve often found himself a go-between when families and patients found it difficult to communicate especially ...
Sue remembers the fields and old farmhouse before the hospice came into being when she used to cycle from her home in Milton Keynes Village so she watched the initially hospice being built. Sue became aware of the work of Willen when a friend passed away and so she joined the Friends of Willen and ...
Paul was born in 1955 and got involved with Willen through his wife, initially as Treasurer and more recently as Chair of Trustees. It was at the time the `key’ charity in Milton Keynes. Paul talks passionately about what else the hospice offers patents with life-limiting illnesses and those in remission, such as therapies including ...
David and Rita Barrett were both born in 1952. Rita got involved with Willen by working in the bookshop in Stony and helping with the Ebay site but it was the love of books which drew her to the shop. Occasionally they receive books worth money which are usually sold on Ebay. She loves the ...
Michelle was born in 1973 and her cousin Vanessa in 1981. Michelle got involved with Willen when her Nan came for respite care and then later her mum was admitted to the Hospice. That was when Michelle decided to help fundraise for the hospice. So with Vanessa they did the Midnight Moo. They organised a ...
Gloria was born in 1960. Her mother was Dorothy Jell who was a District Nurse in the 70’s. Dorothy met Dr. Marjorie Reid who was a local GP. Dorothy was concerned that the growing city of Milton Keynes did not have a hospice and so visited some existing hospices in London and attended some courses ...
Julia was born in 1950 and got involved with Willen in the mid-nineties. As she was already working she applied for a job with their bank system which meant sometimes she worked several days and then went a few months without a job. The jobs varied including reception or bus escorting. In 1997 she was ...
Jane was born in 1945 and became a Willen Hospice Trustee in 1984. She already knew Leslie Jell from her work in Netherfield. Marjorie Reid was the Medical Director at the time. Other Trustees she knew included David Miles, Lady Tompkins, Lady Duncombe, Peter Fisher and Geoffrey Leaver. She was given responsibility for the Newsletter, ...
Marilyn was born in 1953 and joined Willen in 2000 as a Clinical Nurse Specialist mainly seeing patients in their own homes. Before joining Willen she was an Oncology nurse in an NHS hospital. Marilyn has seen many changes in palliative care over the years and so nursing has had to change with the times. ...
Christopher was born in 1953 and was appointed Chief Executive of the Hospice in July 1998. He had previously reached a senior level in NHS management before moving to be Deputy Director of an AIDS Hospice in London. He took over from Leslie Jell. He knew Julian Pedley, Lady Duncombe and John Moyle amongst others. ...
Kathy was born in 1958, trained as a nurse in London and began at Willen as a Bank Nurse in 1990 after starting a family. She became a Ward Sister and, as a result of her experience during the previous build, was appointed Clinical Project Lead to the architects and builders of the new wing. ...
Peta was born in 1953 and was appointed Chief Executive of the Hospice on September 4th 2017. A motivation for applying for the post was her memory of walking away alone from the hospital where her husband was dying and not wanting that to happen to others. She spoke about the challenges raised by COVID, ...
Peter was born in 1933, came to work in Milton Keynes in 1968. He joined the Development Corporation in 1972 in Social Development, by which time he already knew Leslie and Dorothy Jell. He was contacted by Marjorie Reid in 1974, who explained her vision for a hospice and took him to visit one in ...
Ann’s background was in computing and she felt the Hospice could benefit from a computer but had some resistance from the Board. It was thought this would be too modern for the vision of the Hospice. When Ann offered to train the staff there was a change of heart. Ann worked hard to get equipment ...
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