Meet The words of 79-year-old Betty Withers whose story has touched many lives

The words of 79-year-old Betty Withers, whose new role as a vital volunteer has given her life a new spark.

Betty is one of an army of more than 500 volunteers, without which St Andrew’s Hospice would not operate in the way it does. While Betty helps a morning a week in the newly-launched Retreat hair and beauty salon, which is open to the public, others man shops, tender gardens, cater and even carry out oil checks on the organisation’s fleet of vehicles.

For Betty, who was put in touch with St Andrew’s thanks to Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire’s Volunteer Development Service, the work has been a lifeline, following the death of her husband of 40 years, Roy, 18 months ago.

Having worked until she was 70, the retired office manager, had always kept busy and found living on her own for the first time in her life, hard to deal with.

“There is only so many times you can clean a two-bedroom house, and I like to keep busy,” said Betty.

It was her daughter June who found a Facebook post offering all kinds of volunteering opportunities, from environment and gardening projects to befriending the elderly and working with young people.