This week’s column is penned by Cllr Steve Mackay, Deputy Mayor of Worcester

 

Last Friday the Chief Executive of St Richards Hospice, Mark Jackson, kindly arranged for me and others to tour the hospice to gain a greater understanding of what St Richards can offer. While the 17 bed unit provides In-Patient care, St Richards also receive Out- Patients at its clinics and their nurse specialists visit those who are seriously ill in their own homes.  But it does not stop there with Family Support as well as Bereavement Support being offered to relatives at such difficult times. Worcestershire must be grateful for having such a caring body of people ready to step in and help when families need the most assistance.

That evening I took up an invitation to watch an incredibly exciting first match of the season by Worcester Wolves Basketball Team at the University Arena. And what a match, with five minutes to go the opposition, Cheshire Phoenix, were leading the Wolves by five points.  Full time saw a draw, so the game went into extra time.  This was great for the Wolves, who ended up winning 88 to 85. Worcester fans were terrific and gave tremendous support.

On Saturday afternoon I joined the St John Ambulance team in Angel Place, helping with their Save a Life campaign. While we were distributing information on CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation), we found many people asking for the leaflets and wanting demonstrations.  The team were able to show exactly what needs to be done by using their resuscitation dummies.

That evening I watched the Worcester Male Voice Choir sing their way through a number of songs in their repertoire. College Hall is a great setting for the choir, who gave us many different styles of song and obviously enjoyed entertaining as much as the audience appreciated their efforts. If you haven’t heard the choir sing you might like to obtain a ticket for one of their upcoming concerts; you won’t be disappointed!