A COMMITTED community stalwart who has helped out a local hospice for nearly three decades has been put forward for this year’s Your Champions awards.
Vesta Bayley, of Pickmere Drive, is a founding member of the Great Boughton and Huntington Support Group committee and has been put forward for the Volunteer of the Year category.
The group was set up in 1984 by Chester Royal Infirmary matron Vivien Smith, who saw a need for a hospice to serve the city.
During the next five years the group raised enough funds to buy the Old Vicarage in Backford, where, in 1989, the Hospice of the Good Shepherd was opened by Princess Diana.
Retired nurse Vesta has remained dedicated to supporting the hospice ever since.
She served as the committee’s chairman for 12 years and holds annual strawberry teas and Christmas parties.
Joan Griffiths, who nominated Vesta, said: “Vesta has been an avid fundraiser for the hospice ever since its creation.
“Her latest fundraiser was a strawberry tea which raised more than £700.”
