Worth their weight in gold

SO generous: (l-r) Pennine Acute Trust Charity fundraising manager Jan Bolton, Peter Lee from North Manchester WRVS, Barbara Parris from Bury WRVS and John Jesky, trust chairman with their £217,000 donation

THEY’RE dedicated, hard-working and always happy to provide a smile and sympathetic ear.

And now the WRVS volunteers have proved they’re worth their weight in gold after handing over a massive £217,000 to Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust.

Amassed over several years of selling gifts and refreshments in The Royal Oldham, North Manchester General Hospitals, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield General Hospital, in Bury, their fantastic efforts will be used to buy new equipment.

Sue Collins, WRVS head of services for the North-West, said: “We are delighted to be able to ‘gift’ this money to the Trust.

“The money was raised through the hard work and efforts of our dedicated volunteers who help WRVS in its work to support older people and make Britain a great place to grow old.”

John Jesky, chairman of the Pennine Acute Trust said: “This amount is truly remarkable and we are extremely grateful.

“We now have to decide what we are going to spend this on. Clearly it should be spent on equipment, it is such a sum of money that we can do huge things with it.”

“Volunteers are an essential part of the hospital team and their goodwill and dedication allow us to complement the service that staff provide. Each and every one performs a vital role to a high standard.

“They are all appreciated by our staff and our patients. We believe they do an amazing amount of hard work and we couldn’t provide the level of service we do without the help of volunteers — they make a huge difference.”