Hospital bids farewell to dynamic duo

MARJORIE Bamforth (left) and Lilian Hall (right)

TWO long-serving volunteers helped their final patients before bidding farewell to the Royal Oldham Hospital after 55 years of combined service.

Marjorie Bamforth (89) and Lilian Hall (84) have served as volunteers at hospital for more than 28 years and 27 years respectively, most recently with the hospital's admissions department, escorting patients onto the wards.

To celebrate all of the hard work and time the two ladies have put in at the hospital, which is run by The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, colleagues and friends gathered to wish them a fond farewell with tea and cake.

Joanne McAllister, Voluntary Service Manager at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We are extremely proud of the support and dedication these ladies have given the trust. They are our longest-serving volunteers at the trust and they will be missed by all the staff at the the Royal Oldham Hospital. I wish they both well for the future."

Marjorie, from Royton, first started working as a volunteer at The Royal Oldham Hospital in December 1987 as a hostess. At that time there were only a handful of volunteers working at the hospital and she had to wear a white coat, which meant that she was often mistaken as a doctor.

Since then she has regularly helped out at the annual summer garden fete providing home-baked goodies such as sausage rolls and has volunteered every Christmas Eve serving refreshments to the carol singers who visit the wards, using her own crockery and cups.

Marjorie, who was crowned "Woman of Oldham" in 2013, has also volunteered in the hospital chapel, library service, blood donor service, and on various wards and in the Outpatients department.

Away from volunteering, Marjorie completed a parachute jump for her 70th birthday and climbed Mount Snowdon with her family in 2007.

Lilian, from Grotton, first started volunteering in September 1988 and just like Marjorie she started out as a hostess.

She has volunteered in many different areas at the Royal Oldham Hospital over the years, including at the annual summer garden fetes and for the library, where she would take round a trolley of books to the outpatients and A&E departments.

Away from volunteering, Lilian is involved with her local amateur dramatics group, she is a keen Oldham rugby fan and she bakes a lovely lemon cake.