Desmond Wilcox Volunteer of the Year Award Winner
Our worthy winner of the 15th Desmond Wilcox Volunteer of the Year award is Jean Todd, with heartfelt remembrance of her late husband Phil.
Jean and Phil volunteered at our Beatrice Wright Centre and have both held numerous roles including puppy socialising and public speaking over the years.
The loss of Phil, who passed away in May following a 10-year battle with Parkinsons, was felt across the entire organisation.
Read the heart-warming story of Jean and Phil’s volunteer journey below:
Jean says:
“Volunteering is extremely important to me because I realise that I can give back to society. There are things that I can do. I don’t know that much about dogs but I don’t need to – they know that at the centre. They do the hard work, they do the training, I’m the good time girl - and that I can do.
“It was Phil who introduced me to Hearing Dogs. One day he said to me completely out of the blue: ‘I’ d like to get involved with Hearing Dogs for Deaf People’ and the rest is history.
“Phil had lived with Parkinson’s for 10 years. Usually at that time people might tend to step back into the shadows but Phil believed so much in Hearing Dogs that he wanted to step forward and do whatever he could. It was important to him.
“Everything was going well with our volunteering, and more recently we had been looking after Petal, the poodle. She was Phil’s constant companion. Then Phil fell ill, in fact he was very ill. He went into hospital and was there for six weeks and then he passed away. Petal came to see him in hospital. He really appreciated the visit, it was fantastic and did him the world of good. To the end, he said ‘the dog is here.’
“He was so proud when we received Volunteer of the Month in February. He was just so proud to be a part of it all.
“To the end of Phil’s life, the wonderful memories of Hearing Dogs stayed with him.”
