Award for top volunteer at Highland Hospice in Inverness
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A VOLUNTEER who helps at Highland Hospice has been given a top award.
Pat Ross was recognised at Hospice UK’s awards ceremony in Liverpool, where she was named volunteer of the year.
She has volunteered at the hospice for 15 years, making what was described as “an invaluable contribution to the work of the hospice’s quality assurance team”.
She originally joined the charity to help with its administration and accounts before moving to the team where she prepares audit reports. She also helps with a variety of the hospice’s fundraising events – which is impressive considering she lives on the remote west coast in Durnamuck near Dundonnell, and her bus journey to the hospice takes more than two hours each way.
She was described as “a quiet and unassuming lady”, who was loved and respected by all the clinical staff, and is renowned for quietly getting on with the job in hand and working at any new challenge until she finds a solution.
Hospice chief executive officer Kenny Steele said: “Pat is such a committed Highland Hospice volunteer who has spent 15 years putting her heart and soul into helping us.
“She is incredibly competent at what she does, and the fact that she travels for over two hours to and from the hospice is testament to her dedication. We are all delighted for Pat as she is so deserving of this award.”
In their assessment, the judges said: “Pat comes into the hospice two days a week and has been a vital part of reviewing and reformatting all its policies and standard operating procedures. The Quality Assurance team would struggle to function as well as they do without her input.”
