John Bolton OBE. MA., Head of Pastoral Care Services, has retired after six eventful years with the Trusts.

A popular and well-known figure among patients and staff, John will be much missed. His retirement party in The Pastoral Care Centre at Royal Preston Hospital was attended by scores of friends and colleagues and his wife Margaret. John was presented with a number of retirement gifts, including gardening equipment, by Preston Trust Chairman, Brian Booth.

John joined the Preston Trust after a distinguished 25-year career as a British Army Chaplain, seeing service in Cyprus, Germany and Northern Ireland. His work in Northern Ireland was recognised with the award of an OBE.

In his role as Head of Pastoral Services for Preston and latterly Chorley, John developed a forward-looking, holistic service which aimed to meet the pastoral and spiritual needs of patients, staff and members of the public.

As well as his talents as a clergyman, John was well known for his humorous, quirky and occasionally provocative writing style. Before he left us, John couldn’t resist putting pen to paper one last time for our staff newsletter.

(Reflections at the time of retirement)

When you have finished sucking on a lollipop you are left with a stick and rotten teeth! That is something like a vision of ageing and retirement – a stick is useful as a prop and there is every chance that a set of false teeth may be essential.

Forty-nine years ago I earned seven shillings and sixpence a week as a junior clerk working in the council offices. Today I bow out of public service but this time it is having coupled my salary in the NHS. The years in between have been a mixture of excitement, stress and job satisfaction. The last six and a half years employed in the Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust have proved to be the icing on the cake. During my time in the hospitals I was given the opportunity and support to set up a unique model of pastoral care. The Trust identified a need to provide a service that was loyal to individual pastoral need provided in a user friendly way by a team of committed qualified employees. I was delighted to rise to the challenge and do really feel that Pastoral Care across the Preston and Chorley Hospital has broken new ground and is established as a quality model appropriate to a modern hospital. The service is equipped and knows how to "be there" in a non-judgemental and caring way. It is a model that has stood the test and is here to stay. Anyone can use it and certainly feel comfortable about requesting amusing and very sad moments: encouraging and stressful experiences.

I well remember the patient who requested to take bedside communion on five consecutive days. I happened to comment that he must have a deep and important understanding of faith. "Oh no", he says, "I knew that if I was asked for communion you would come to see me every day. You see, I am not particularly religious but I do need the company. Thanks". My understanding of theology is that these were highly relevant moments because the availability of communion did serve to bring two humans (former strangers) to the point of friendship and togetherness. The gentleman died peacefully two weeks later.

Amongst my richest moments will be recollections of the staff memorials held in the Chapel area. The appropriateness and helpfulness came out of each event being designed by work colleagues. This meant that the occasions turned out to be meaningful, with the emphasis on shared memories before being able to let go. So often the recognisable religious content was hidden and perhaps that is why the memorials were never diminished or pompous.

Other reflections must include the sight of four hundred excited children at the annual Christmas Parties. The parties were loud, demanding and hard work, but thanks to a hard working team of amazing volunteers we all came out of every one exhausted, but alive. Each year the conclusion was, "Never again", only to bounce back to soak up more punishment the following year.

Then there were the annual volunteers parties held each December as a "Thank you from the Trust". I have remembrances of loads of folk thoroughly enjoying mammoth sing-a-longs as well as wall-to-wall chatter for a whole two hours. It was such great fun and seemed to be appreciated by the hundreds of volunteers who attended over the years.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the day-to-day contact with staff and families. The real alongside opportunities have led to sharing a belly full of laughs as well as the wiping of tears. I will remain grateful for the enormous number of friendships that have grown out of the day-to-day pastoral care of staff and patients across the three sites.

I do believe that the Trusts have a healthy future to which they can look forward and I know that the hard work and dedication of so many employees will be well and truly rewarded. I have always believed that loyalty and a commitment to caring leads to work satisfaction. I do hope that my small and often insignificant contribution has enabled folk to feel valued in the workplace.

In whatever corner of the hospital you work – thank you for your friendship and colleagueship and I do hope that you continue to enjoy your work for the benefit of the patients. I have now come to the end of my working lollipop, but my aim is to throw away the stick and hang on to my own teeth for as long as possible!