Howard's Volunteer Story

Our wonderful volunteer gardener Howard first started tending to our gardens during the pandemic, and since then has given an admirable amount of time to keep them looking tidy and welcoming for patients, visitors and our team.

From clearing leaves to potting bulbs to keep our gardens bright over Winter, Howard's days in the hospice can be as quiet or as busy as he wants them to be, which is one of the things he loves most about volunteering.

Ahead of Mental Health Awareness Day, Howard is sharing how volunteering in our garden has also helped his mental health over the past six years, offering an outlet to enjoy time alone and a reason to get out now that he's semi-retired.

“Through Covid, we were put on minimum hours at work and volunteering gave me a way of getting out the house and being able to do something in the open air. And from day one, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's a big, big project, but it's nice just to keep on top of it and keep it looking nice for the patients and the staff.

The beauty of it is it's, everything's down to me. So it's where I want to go, what I need to do when I’m here. This time of the year, it’s mainly clearing leaves off the pavements and the paving slabs so people don't slip on them. But throughout the year, we have rose gardens, we have we have the pond, and it's keeping on top of all these different things.

Now, the bulbs are all planted and they'll be coming out in the late Autumn, early spring, and then next week we're going to be planting some Winter pansies and violas to give the hospice some colour on the outside.

I've got a plethora of different instruments now. I've got leaf blowers and strimmers and it's down to me what I want to do on the day and how long I'm going to be here for.

It’s nice to be able to just do come in completely switch off from everything and just concentrate on doing some stuff here. Everybody's so friendly and helpful and, and to see the patients every now and again and have a chat with them and they all acknowledge what you're doing. It's really nice, it's a lovely atmosphere.

I think I just enjoy, from my point of view, the solitude of it all. It's just nice to get into your own mind and sort out what you're doing, how you're doing it, and just I just love coming here. And thankfully, when the weather's like this, it is a really, really nice place to come to.

I know it's a hospice and death surrounds it, but to be able to give something back and to be able to make things a little bit lively and look nice, that's really what the motivation is behind it.

Also I'm 66 now, so semi-retired and it gives me a reason to get up in the morning, to go out and do something - and to get my exercise rings filled on my watch!

I’ve had a lot of problems with mental health, most of my life really, but more especially over the last 10 to 15 years.

Without going too deeply into it, I was very lucky,  I came and saw Mandy here. She helped me over a year or 18 months with things that I was struggling with. And I just find if I do have any issues - and there is things I worry about and I have up days and down days - and when I'm having a down day to come here, it's one of the most fulfilling things.

It’s so calming and relaxing and you can try and sort what's going on in your mind. Mental health has been a big part of my life, and this has helped an awful lot over the last 6 or 7 years. It's been amazing in that respect.”

We’re so grateful to Howard for everything he does. If you’d like to find out more about volunteering with Teesside Hospice, click here.