Colleagues and friends have remembered much-loved hospital volunteer Paul Watts by dedicating a tree to him in the new look staff remembrance garden to mark a year of his passing. Hospital volunteers and members of Paul’s family attended the ceremony at Peterborough City Hospital to remember the dedicated volunteer and his decade of service to patients and visitors alike.
Among his many duties as a volunteer, Paul was instrumental in attending the staff vaccination clinics during the Covid pandemic and beyond, ensuring they ran smoothly.
Paul – a volunteer at Peterborough and at the Cancer Wellbeing Service – passed away while on shift in late November last year after collapsing in the hospital’s main entrance.
A year on, and the volunteer team wanted to mark the anniversary in some way, with a carefully selected potted Acer tree being dedicated to the new look Staff Reflection Garden in Paul’s memory.
Paul’s widow Jet, a Cancer Wellbeing Service staff member and hospital volunteer – and their daughter Clare – were among the many attending the ceremony.
Paying tribute to Paul and reading a poem, Trust Head of Volunteering, Carol North added: “Paul was one of the few volunteers that contributed hundreds of hours when we needed it most.
“We remember Paul as a cheeky chap who always looked ahead, helped wherever he could; always with a sense of humour and loads of heart.
“The team misses him greatly and this is a fitting and lasting tribute to Paul where his friends can come and sit in quiet reflection to remember him.”
Paul’s tree will form part of the new-look Staff Reflection Garden at Peterborough City Hospital – designed by Lead Volunteer Gardener Jenni Grainger.
The garden is undergoing a £40,000 revamp thanks to a North West Anglia Hospitals’ Charity investment towards staff health and mental wellbeing.
