SHROPSHIRE volunteers for a children’s hospice near Oswestry have been celebrated for their service in raising funds for its work.

Volunteers for  Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith children’s hospices – near Oswestry and in North Wales respectively – have held a series of celebrations to mark the outstanding contribution of 104 supporters who have donated between three to 30 years of volunteering.

The hospices have more than 600 regular volunteers who donate their gift of time to do everything from running the charity’s shops and fundraising, to helping in admin roles and keeping the hospice gardens looking beautiful.

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Special awards were presented this year to volunteers who had donated three, five, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years of service to the charity.

Among the recipients from Shropshire were Anne Wignall, Debbie Hayward and Karen Ward – all having completed 20 years of service – from the Ellesmere Friends Group.

Fundraising volunteers Cathie Davies, Lee Eyes, Lynn and Phil Hirst, Rebecca Forster, Sue Hannah, Susan & Peter Maiden (all three years) plus Dawn Williams, Kelly Clarke, Shaun Rogers (all five years) Barry Fergus, Bryan Williams (both 10 years), Lynda Jones (15 years) and John Matthews (25 years) were also recognised.

And so too were Diane Jones, from Hope House administration, is celebrating five years and Cath Mercer, Margaret Baines, Marion Jones (all three years), from Hope House Gardeners.

Annette Griffiths (25 years) and Audrey Jones (30 years) from the Llanfyllin Friends Group while from the Oswestry Events Group is Iola Evans who celebrates 20 years.

From the Oswestry shop are Helen Morris, with three years plus Gwyneth Morgan and Lin Kilty (both 10 years).

Trustees Supriya Kapas and Phil Inch are celebrating three and 30 years, respectively.

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The volunteers at the reception were delighted to meet two of the children helped by the charity – Esmay and her parents Kim and Richard at Hope House, and Matilda and her parents Michelle and Pete at Tŷ Gobaith.

Chief executive Andy Goldsmith said: “Every single volunteer helped children with life-threatening conditions to live their best life, whether that was helping to promote the services of the hospice to reach more children, helping to care for the children, or helping to raise the money needed to provide the care.”

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Vice chairman of trustees, Barbara Evans, who presented the awards with the chairman of trustees, Steve Henly, said she had been volunteering for 34 years.

“In the early days we had a dream of what the hospice could be and of how we could help local children,” she recalled.

“Now we have two hospices and 14 shops and are able to help hundreds of children and families. So much of that is down to the hard work of our volunteers and I can’t thank you enough for helping our dreams to come true.”