Ty Olwen

Mrs Carole Morgans and daughter Tracy visited Ty Olwen this week to present a cheque for £1,400 in memory of Carole’s husband Ben. This was the proceeds of a fundraising night held at the Samlet Social Club last week organised by Tracy. The cake was made especially for Ty Olwen and represented Ben’s love of his garden and the special place in it he had set aside in memory of his grandaughter Jody who had died some three years ago. Thank you to both of you, your family and everybody who supported the event which Helen and Paul Murray were delighted to attend for part of the evening .

The weather was fine, the walkers enthusiastic and resplendent in their fancy dress and ‘Rio’ won the prize for the smartest ‘doggie’ bandanna. Thank you to everyone who took part and whilst we do not have a final total raised we thank everyone who contributed in anyway. 

From left to right, Mumbles Rotary Club Secretary Phil Rogers, Brian Saunders. President Colin Griffiths, Margaret Bartlett and Captain Roy Griffiths.

A very special event took place this week when the Rotary Club of Mumbles presented two local people with prestigious Rotary International awards…

At a dinner held at Norton House Hotel, Captain Roy Griffiths MBE and Mrs. Margaret Bartlett were presented with the highest award made by Rotary — Paul Harris Fellowships.  Named after the founder of Rotary, they are awarded in recognition of long and meritorious service to the community for the betterment of humanity. Both recipients are well known for their work in the community and were presented with their awards by Club President Colin Griffiths

Captain Roy Griffiths is very well known in Mumbles and Swansea Bay through his endeavours for all matters relating to our seashore location. Raised in Mumbles, he became a deck boy on a Coastal tanker at the age of sixteen.  In due course he became a Master Mariner (Foreign Going) commanding vessels belonging to the Royal Oceanographic Research Fleet. In 1974, he was appointed a Sea Pilot at Swansea and Port Talbot until 2000 when he became Harbour Master and Pilot at the river port of Neath.

In 1977, Roy became a crewmember and then Lifeboat Operations Manager for RNLI Mumbles. .Roy’s efforts for the RNLI, and other sea related voluntary bodies such as the Sea Cadets and the Mission to Sea Farers, where he was Chairman for 15 years, were recognised by the Queen when he was appointed an MBE in the 2009 New Year’s Honours List.

He is currently a member of the Merchant Navy Association and this year is Master of the Swansea and South Wales Company of Mariners.

Margaret Bartlett is the President of Ty Olwen Hospice Trust but her involvement started long before the first brick was laid, as she was one of the founding members of the hospice. Others involved from the beginning included her own daughter Helen – now Chairman of Ty Olwen –  Dr Peter Griffiths, the late Julian Bihari and of course Mrs J T Morgan, the ‘Olwen’ from whom the Charity’s name was taken.  When Ty Olwen opened its doors to the first patients in 1981, Margaret and her husband Mick volunteered their services.  Sadly, Mick passed away, but Margaret continues to work with positive determination and energy putting “Service Above Self” on a daily basis.

Margaret set up the Ty Olwen Shop in Swansea’s High Street in 1994 and in the last 20 years, the shop, entirely staffed by volunteers, has raised over £400,000 for the Trust. She accepted the role of President of the Ty Olwen Trust in 2011 and has become a true ambassador for the cause she loves so much. Over the years, the Trust has raised close to £9 million – a truly remarkable effort. When we approached Margaret as a potential recipient of this special Rotary award her response was “what an honour, why me?” Well, we all know why.

At the same dinner, Brian Saunders was presented with a Long Service Award to mark his twenty-five years total commitment as a Rotarian in Mumbles.

Thank you to the Reverend Carol Davies and all of the members of the Parish of Llwynderw for their generous donation of £400 to Ty Olwen from part of the proceeds of a Fashion Show and Parish Raffle organised by the Rev. Carol. This is in addition to the annual donation the parish has been making for many years and we are grateful for the continued support they give to Ty Olwen. The presentation was made after the communion service on Low Sunday to Helen Murray.

Helen Murray was delighted to attend the Llwchwr Town Council Civic Awards Ceremony at the Loughor Welfare Hall last night to receive a donation for £2,000 from The Town Mayor, Councillor Christine Richards from money raised during her year in office. It was also a pleasure to meet local lad Leigh Halfpenny who received a special award during the evening.

On 8th April 2013 we found out the extended of our dads illness and that the news was not great,
Our dad was a strong proud man as most of you know and never gave up the fight, trying to protect his family to the end.

On the 9th October 2013 he was admitted to Ty Olwen for pain management, during his short time at Ty Olwen his Cancer had rapidly spread and we were given the devastating news that he only had a short time left to live.

Gareth and the team at Ty Olwen were incredible they asked us what we wanted to do for our dad and without question we wanted him to come home, within 48hr they had organised everything.

What Ty Olwen did as a team was astonishing to us as a family, they facilitated everything for dads needs the work that went into bring our dad home unless you have gone through the process is mind-blowing

On the sunny afternoon of Friday 18th October 2013 our dad came home with all his needs in place, they positioned his bed so that he could look at his beloved garden and the lift this gave him was clear to see.
The Spice Team a dedicated group of carers were wonderful the support they provided extraordinary and they all deserve a medal, the on call nursing staff always on hand, and without question Ty Olwen always by our side.

We had a fantastic three weeks with our dad with so many great memories to cherish during the end of his life we laughed and loved him to the end. Our Dad passed away on Saturday 9th November 2014 surrounded by his family.

And that is all down to the exceptional service Ty Olwen provide, when there is no hope left Ty Olwen Care is Always There, so true for the Morgans family.

We felt we needed to support and give back although Ty Olwen are supported by the NHS they need our donations to support the tremendous work and outstanding service they provide.

We are having a fund raising evening and all proceeds will be in aid of Ty Olwen
PLEASE support us PLEASE support the memory of our dad Ben Morgans.

Tracy Morgans

John Hearn and Peter Evans representing the Gower Rockhoppers Sea Angling Club attended Ty Olwen to present a donation of £1,600. Members meet regularly at the George in Mumbles and pay a nominal sum to fish. They very generously decided to make a donation to Ty Olwen who had helped one of their members recently. Pictured thanking Peter and John are Delyth Gough (Ty Olwen Trustee and Unit Receptionist and Suzanne Jones (Medical Secretary)

Congratulations to Mair and Rhys on their wedding on 22nd February this year and for their generous donation to Ty Olwen in memory of Rhys’ Dad

A group of friends have raised £1,000 for Ty Olwen with a disco at Swansea’s Dockers Club. The youngsters were inspired by the loss of loved ones. They visited Ty Olwen recently visited to present the cheques to Margaret Bartlett which also included a generous donation fro Frankie Burrows from the Champion Soccer Academy