Nurse, art teacher, volunteer and grandmother of 12 – life is never dull for Sarah Mills.
That is just how she likes it, juggling her many commitments.
Sarah has just completed 20 years as a bank nurse at East Cheshire Hospice, working an average of a shift a week on the Hospice @Home team.
Sarah Mills with six of her grandchildren.
Sarah, from Bollington, said: “Being a bank nurse means I’m like an extra, but I love it. It’s a brilliant job and allows me to manage my other commitments.
“I can control when I work. It sounds very privileged, but I’m able do lots of other voluntary things as well.
“I’ve been with the Hospice @Home team for about five years. It’s such a privileged job visiting people who want to be at home in their final days and who wouldn’t have had that opportunity before.
“We provide care and support for a family who may never have experienced an end-of-life situation. We can explain what to expect and hopefully, reassure and encourage them.
“We see the person in their entirety, surrounded by loved ones, as well as personal and familiar objects which provide comfort for them.
Sarah Mills enjoying the outdoors with her family.
“I’ve been a bank nurse all my career, including in the NHS. But the Hospice has such a different atmosphere with the time and opportunity to provide more sensitive and emotional care than is possible in the NHS.
“The Hospice has specialists in all areas and regular training provides a good base for all staff.”
Sarah is a member of the church council at St Barnabas and also keeps busy by supporting friends with needs.
She admits she is a better nurse than art teacher, a role she does to help daughter Katy who home educates her six children, the eldest of whom is 14.
“The children come round and we do drawing and painting, art appreciation, sewing and other creative media and have lots of fun. That takes up quite a bit of my time, but I thoroughly enjoy being the art teacher!”
Sarah and husband Cliff, a lawyer with the Co-operative movement, have three sons and two daughters.