Friends of the late Marion Rotham have raised money to present a bench for the Ty Olwen garden with the balance given to Ty Olwen. There are no names on the bench but an engraving of ‘Tigger’ . Marion’s daughter Sarah and grandson Isaac visited Ty Olwen recently to see it being handed over to Trustee, Delyth Gough, by Marion’s friends Wendy, Kim and Nicola.
Pat Phillips is one of our volunteers (on the right of the photograph) who mans reception and answers the phone all day on Thursday and every week provides the flowers in the reception area which makes a massive difference to patients and visitors to Ty Olwen. Due to a vacancy Pat is also doing an “extra shift” on Tuesday mornings.
It was Pat’s birthday last Monday and it was decided to have a little lunch for her, as she was in the unit that day, and invite our President Mrs Margaret Bartlett along. Also in the picture is our Domestic Sue Palfrey undercover as a birthday cake. For the first time in the 5 years that Pat has been here she was actually speechless.
The Men of Sweyns Ey visited Ty Olwen recently to present a donation of £870 raised during their Mumming performances. Each year just before Christmas the Men of Sweyn’s Ey perfom The Gower Christmas Sport and Crympyn John, mummers plays, a tradition dating back several centuries. These comical plays are delivered in rhyme and include a mock fight between two heroes, one of whom is killed. A doctor appears and resurrects him and he lives to fight another day.
We have received a further donation of £90.00 raised during their Gowere Wassail.
The Chairman was delighted to meet with the staff of Toyoda Gosei and receive another incredible cheque for £2311.06. This was the final donation to Ty Olwen as their chosen charity for 2016. They raised an outstanding amount of £5045.10p.during the year. Thank you Steve Green, Anne-Marie and all the staff and their families for choosing Ty Olwen.
Ty Olwen is delighted to be part of the Annual Christmas Tree Festival at St. Peter’s Church, Pontardawe. A warm welcome is extended to one and all and the festival will be open on Friday’s 9th and 16th December between 10am and 4pm, Saturday’s 10th and 17th December between 10am and 4pm and Sunday’s 11th and 18th December between 12pm and 3pm. Free admission and refreshments available. On Saturday 17th December at 2pm there will a Christmas Afternoon Tea at £5 each (Children £1-50) with proceeds to be divided between the charities.
In her report at the Ty Olwen Trust AGM last week Helen Murray, spoke about how lucky she was 40 years ago to be involved with the initial discussions about Palliative Care in the area and in supporting a local GP, Dr. Peter Griffiths, in bringing it to the attention of the Health Authority. Subsequently involved in raising petitions, fundraising and seeing Ty Olwen being built, she became a founder trustee in 1981 and now chairs the Ty Olwen Trust, our local charity raising over £400,000 a year to support what is now a centre of excellence for Palliative Care in the AMBU Health Board. Her hard work was recognised and on Friday 25 November, Helen received her MBE from The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. This is not the end of her involvement but has acted as a spur to carry on supporting the exceptional care given by the team of Doctors, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, auxiliary, administration and volunteer teams
.
Dr. William Reynolds, Director of Music at St. Mary’s Church, Swansea presents a total of £420 to Helen Murray, Chairman of Ty Olwen accompanied by the Rector, Canon Ian Rees and Associate Priest Helen Rees.
The Cardiff based Caritas Choir under the direction of Lindsay Gray recently performed at a concert at St. Mary’s and raised a total of £840 for Ty Olwen and the St. Mary’s Church Choral Trust.
Lindsay Gray said “All of us at Caritas were delighted to come over to St. Mary’s with its excellent acoustic, fine organ and, above all, a very warm welcome from the Director of Music, William Reynolds and from the Rector, Ian Rees. It was a particular pleasure to perform a rarely heard work, ‘Gaude, gaude Maria’ by the 16th century composer, John Sheppard, a piece in which the vocal lines push the choir to its limits, especially in respect of the soprano’ who have to sustain an astonishingly high tessitura. We hope to bring Caritas back to Swansea in the future.”
Mr. Roy Bowen and his daughter Delyth visited Ty Olwen recently to handover the donations of £1415 that had been received in memory of his wife Mrs Susan Bowen. Pictured receiving the donations are Health Care Workers Matthew Golding and Sharon Richards together with family friend Hywel Griffiths from Wynford Thomas, Funeral Directors.
Mrs Louie Davies, retiring Lady Captain at Clyne Golf Club, chose Ty Olwen as one of the Charities to benefit from her year in office. The Chairman is pictured with Mrs Davies receiving a donation of £500 that had been raised at a Charity Coffee morning and a Cabaret Night.
The Port Talbot & District Ladies Darts League (Wednesday) compete each year for the Sandra Hodges Charity Cup and the winners nominate a charity to receive a donation. This year the Cup was won by the “Four Winds” team. Pictured receiving the donation of £215 from Captain Helen James is the Chairman with team members.
