Retired nurse Lindsay Taylor kept a promise to herself by joining the band of volunteers tending to the East Cheshire Hospice gardens.
Lindsay, from Macclesfield, said: “I was a nurse at the Hospice and always said that when I retired I’d like to garden here because I like the gardens so much.
“I wanted to give something back and have been here about four years. It’s great fun and the volunteers are such a nice friendly gang.
Gardening volunteers (from left) Carol Bonner, Lindsay Taylor, Carol Waterhouse, Pat Dawson and Olwen Gibson.
“Sometimes patients will come out and admire the gardens. The husband of one patient came out and said ‘I’ll do a bit while I’m here.’
“It was quite sweet really and everyone does appreciate the gardens.”
Fellow volunteer Carol Waterhouse left her job as Hospice ward manager in 2016 to set up a home help business.
She said: “I came back on to the nursing register in 2021 during Covid and do bank shifts for Hospice @Home now I’m semi-retired.
“Gardening here is a lovely thing to do and all we want is to make a difference.”
Olwen Gibson is one of the newest gardening recruits. She said: “I realised I’d got the time and wanted to do something useful. It’s such an enjoyable outdoor activity.”
Carol Bonner, a volunteer for two years, said: “It gets me out and about and I like the idea of a Hospice and what they do. I’ve got the time to help and prefer to be outdoors rather than inside.”