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Low Fell couple prove their weight in gold

ByDave Stopher

Jun 10, 2018

Mike and Barbara Nye from Low Fell, Gateshead, recently celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in style by giving back to a local charity close to their hearts – St Oswald’s Hospice, based in Newcastle. The generous couple bought the Hospice an advertising plaque at their local bowling club and asked friends to make a donation in their name as part of their recent anniversary celebrations.

Mike and Barbara first became aware of St Oswald’s when Mike’s mum received end of life care at the Hospice as an inpatient in the mid 90’s. After experiencing first-hand the quality of care and range of services at St Oswald’s, the couple were inspired to continue to support the charity. Barbara said: “My mother-in-law received amazing first-class care and that’s always been the main motivation why we support St Oswald’s and why we’ve supported the Hospice for such a long time.”

Mike added: “The care that St Oswald’s provided to mum was outstanding and above and beyond anything we expected, we couldn’t have wished for better. I have carried on supporting St Oswald’s since this time as you never know when you or someone you love may need to receive specialist end of life care. St Oswald’s is brilliant – simple as that. Exceptional and tremendous, in every respect.”

The couple has been supporting St Oswald’s for over 12 years and having both retired from busy careers, Mike and Barbara both volunteer in their local St Oswald’s charity shop in Low Fell, Gateshead. Mike said: “The Low Fell shop has a superb atmosphere with generous customers, a genuinely lovely team of staff and volunteers and you never know what experiences you are in store for as no two days are the same. As well as Barbara and myself, we’ve even encouraged our grandson to start volunteering, so it’s become a real family affair!”

Mike and Barbara are both active in retirement and also volunteer at a local food bank, support their local church and pursue hobbies such as bowling. Mike stated: “When our bowling club was looking to raise money they started selling advertising space and we just thought it would be a lovely gesture to advertise St Oswald’s. The club has a footfall of around 7,000 so it’s brilliant exposure for a fantastic charity that means so much to Barbara and I. We were also keen to ask friends and family at our 50th wedding anniversary to make a donation to St Oswald’s in place of a gift and we managed to raise a brilliant £155.”

Andrew Moir, Head of Retail, said: “Mike and Barbara have both been incredible volunteers and ambassadors for St Oswald’s over the past 12 years. They’re utterly dedicated and loyal to St Oswald’s and the fact they use any opportunity they can to raise more money for us, is testament to their generous spirit. We thank Mike and Barbara for their incredible support and hope they continue to support us for many more years to come.”

If Mike and Barbara have inspired you to join the St Oswald’s volunteering team then please don’t hesitate to visit their website: https://www.stoswaldsuk.org/get-involved/volunteer-with-us/current-volunteering-opportunities.aspx