Ty Olwen

For all Book Lovers a large selection is now on sale at the Book Fayre at the Ty Olwen Hospice Shop in High St, Swansea

 The wedding crasher

It was definitely a first for me – gate-crashing a wedding. The guests were gathering, they looked smart (as usual I wasn’t wearing a tie and felt underdressed); the room where the ceremony was to take place was decorated and looked beautiful; the registrars had arrived and were setting up; the vicar, who was to bless the marriage after the civil ceremony, was there too. I even managed to talk to the bride before the wedding, she looked lovely. I had not been invited and so I left them to it. Not a normal working day – but a surprise, delight and a pleasure. The wedding was taking place at Ty Olwen, the hospice at Morriston Hospital and the bridegroom was an inpatient. The way the wedding had been organised sums the place up – they had only a few days’ notice but the arrangements were made, including a special licence, and the whole event was moving, poignant and very special for everyone involved. I met Sharon David, a medical secretary at Ty Olwen, and a number of her colleagues at the Chairman’s Awards Ceremony in November and she made it her business to nobble as many Board members as possible and ask them to visit Ty Olwen. Last week it was my turn and it made a profound impression. One of the striking things about the place is the apparent lack of hierarchy, of course knowing who is in charge is a good thing, and having met sister I was left in no doubt, but everyone seemed confident and to understand their role in the team regarding each other with respect. People seemed happy for Sharon to host my visit and I was able to talk equally to everyone – this is not always as easy as it should be. It came across as an excellent culture – everyone knows their role and can see where they fit in to caring for the patients – it is grounded in strong values of compassion, care and teamwork – ones which readily match the ones we have adopted across the Health Board. I am not naturally hierarchical and whilst I understand my responsibility and accountability and also the power that goes with it I also value an environment where the contribution of everyone is valued regardless of seniority, profession or rank. Ty Olwen felt like such a place. Almost half of my time was spent chatting to some of the patients in the day hospital. They were a lovely welcoming group – fiercely protective of the staff (and the fabulous volunteers who are so important to the unit) who they valued highly – but also of each other because of the support they gain from shared experiences. One gentleman was as much of a cricket fan as me – and I could have talked to him for the rest of the day. There is often lots of debate on the intranet about our organisation’s Values and our behaviour to each other and our patients – values are not soft, they are tough to live up to particularly when we have to change our habits, particularly those of us who are defined as managers or leaders. As many people have pointed out; values are usually something we bring with us to work – but Ty Olwen struck me as a place where a healthy culture has led to a collective sense of what is important, in other words genuinely shared values – I have no doubt they live the values of the organisation and have done for many years – but it reminded me of why we are undertaking a values programme – this collective sense of purpose makes a great place to work and a great place to receive care.

Ty Olwen is a good role model.

The Class Act Theatre School put on two Christmas Shows last year in support of The Lions Club of Swansea, one in St. Mary’s Church, Pontardawe and one at St. James’s Church in the Uplands in Swansea. CATS is the brainchild of Jill Williams who has over 100 young people putting on shows throughout the year and are based in West Cross, Cockett, Pontardawe and Neath. They are already preparing to put on the shows ‘Oliver’ and ‘Grease’ in 2016. Vaughan Thomas, President of the Lions Club, stressed that the success of the shows were due to the hard work of Jill Williams and the young people involved with the Lions Club supporting them at the venues. Over £8000 was raised and Vaughan, supported by some of the young people and members of the Lions Club, was delighted to present cheques to Helen Murray of Ty Olwen and Blood Bikes Wales.

The Eagle in Treboeth has been a great supporter of Ty Olwen for many years and this Christmas held a raffle of the biggest Teddy Bear ever seen. Helen and Kate Murray recently visited to receive a cheque for the proceeds which amounted to an astonishing £1400. Pictured with them are Terry Campbell, Michael Verbeeck and Wayne Maddocks along with Bianca and Samantha.

Donna Read at Days fleet has continued the New Year with support for Ty Olwen and Helen Murray was delighted to visit her at Garngoch to say a big thank you and present her with a special certificate to acknowledge them breaking the £5000 barrier since beginning to collect for us in December 2012.

We recently featured Amanda Evans shaving her head on Boxing Day. Shaving your head for charity is a brave thing to do, but doing it twice is incredible, and this is what Amanda has done for Ty Olwen. She visited Ty Olwen recently and was met by Helen Murray, our Chair, who was able to to say a huge thank you for raising a fantastic £1000. Picture with Helen and Amanda are Mrs Denise Jones-Rees and Mr Howard Rees, Landlady and landlord of the Vaughan Arms in Resolven where Amanda works and who hosted the event. Thank you to everyone who supported Amanda and by doing so Ty Olwen.

Helen Murray, Ty Olwen Chair, was invited to speak about Ty Olwen at the January meeting of the Parkmill W.I. and was presented with a cheque for £650 raised at a Coffee Morning. Pictured presenting the cheque to Helen is Parkmkill W.I. President Mrs Lilian Baxter whilst members look on.

The amazing Donna and all her colleagues at Day Contract Hire send their Christmas greetings to everyone associated with Ty Olwen and have raised £900 on their ‘Christmas Jumper Day’. This year they will have presented £1600 to us. Thank you everyone!

Thank you to Liz Lovell, Lady Captain of Langland Bay Golf Club for 2014/15 for choosing Ty Olwen as her charity in memory of her father Emlyn Davies who passed away in August 2014 and to club members and the local community for their support to her. Also thanks to Mark Watts of HSBC and his colleagues who supported her as well with a major fund raising event. In total Liz has presented a cheque for an amazing £10,231-51 to Helen Murray.