Page 121 - Redditch People

Redditch People

Ida and her family moved to Redditch in 1972, and began working as a District Nurse. It
wasn't long before she was chosen for training as first Macmillan Nurse in Hereford and
Worcestershire. She was based initially at Bromsgrove Cottage Hospital, then Hill Top. She
was also instrumental in setting up the Primrose Hospice in Bromsgrove, an independent
charity offering advice and support to cancer patients and their families in the north
Worcestershire area. There she helped set up and run charity shops, raising further funds
for Macmillan, whilst also making the lives of terminally ill people more comfortable in
their own homes.

Ida spent much of her free time setting up trusts, with the particular aim of helping
families with special needs, for example syringe drivers, special mattresses, and a host of
numerous other essentials. Ida was a 'Doer', not the sort to wait for official channels and
grants if she could short circuit the system!

A firm believer that no-one should have to die in pain, Ida worked tirelessly, educating
local doctors and other health professionals in the effective use of pain relief, in addition
to her day to day work with patients and their families.

With an impish sense of humour, she boasted of having slept with more old men in
Worcestershire than anyone else – her Irish humour making light of the fact that she
frequently took a camp bed to sleep beside patients to give their relatives a good night’s
rest. One Christmas Ida’s turkey appeared on the table with a leg missing – the warning
look said “don’t ask” – and it was years later the family discovered she had delivered it to
an elderly couple. Unused to cooking, the husband had burned theirs and Ida wanted to
make sure their last Christmas together would not be spoiled.

She is Life President of the Redditch & District Macmillan Committee which has raised
almost a million pounds under her guidance. In 2010 she was awarded the Rotary 'Paul
Harris Fellowship' for her outstanding services to the community. In July 2011 she was
presented with the highest honour Macmillan Cancer Support can bestow on a volunteer
– The Douglas Macmillan Award – exactly 100 years after he founded Macmillan Cancer
Support. Plus many more awards for her work.

Being a Macmillan Nurse to Ida, was a way of life, not simply a job for a certain number
of hours a week. But if the family thought the telephone and doorbell would stop ringing
when Ida retired – later than she should have because at 60 she felt her job had not been
completed - they were wrong. If they thought she might put her feet up they were wrong.
The main difference to her life was that she was no longer being paid for what she did.
Many partners and children (now grown up) of people Ida nursed more than 30 years ago
still maintain contact. And since her retirement in 1993, Ida has worked tirelessly as a
fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support.

She has never sought recognition, her reward is in the difference the services and
equipment she helps provide, makes to cancer patients and their families. “If you don’t
get it right first time, there isn’t a second chance,” she says. In Macmillan Nursing she
found her true vocation, as an ambassador of the service she continues to be exemplary
in her retirement, and an inspiration to all those around her. And after 40 years working
in Worcestershire she has touched and made a difference to many lives

© RLHS 2015 Page: 121