Interviewer

Firstly, could I ask your name?

Elaine Tinsley

Elaine Tinsley.

Interviewer

And could I ask how old you are, Elaine?

Elaine Tinsley

74.

Interviewer

And could I ask what group we are talking about today?

Elaine Tinsley

League of Friends to the Orthopaedic Hospital at Oswestry.

Interviewer

Thank you. Why did you get involved with the League of Friends here?

Elaine Tinsley

I used to work here years ago, when I was young, and then I had my own business for 30 years, and I retired and I wanted something to do, and I thought, “Oh, I’m sure they could do with some help at the League of Friends.” So I’d telephoned and asked whether they needed any more help.

Interviewer

So you’d had a gap. So when you were at the hospital, what sort of role did you do?

Elaine Tinsley

I was personal assistant to one of the radiologists. Okay. In the X-ray department.

Interviewer

And had you kept in touch with the hospital in the time when you went off, and ran your own business?

Elaine Tinsley

No, not, not really. For the first couple of years you did because you had a child, and you bring the baby in for them for see, or whatever. But after that I, I didn’t, no .

Interviewer

Okay. So it was completely cold start? And when you contacted the League of Friends, was it as you expected it to be, from what you’d seen all those years before, was it much the same? How did it feel?

Elaine Tinsley

Oh, the hospital was completely different. Things had changed. I mean the hospital was still here, but there was, wards were different, departments were different, and there were not many people that I knew left. There were one or two, but not many. I knew some of the people who volunteered daily.

Interviewer

And did the Friends still do the same sort of thing, as they did years ago, or have you think that role has changed?

Elaine Tinsley

Oh, it’s changed. They do a lot more now than they used to years ago.

Interviewer

So for people who’ve never been here, what sorts of things do the Friends do at this hospital?

Elaine Tinsley

Well, they’ve got the coffee shop obviously, and the shop, which volunteers help run. But they have functions, and they’ve got branches all around the area which I also volunteer for, which raise money for the hospital. And then the money goes large projects or small projects, depending on what’s needed.

Interviewer

And it’s interesting, it’s not something anybody else has brought up, but I’ve heard sort of talking to other people. So these branches, you, these fundraising groups, how do they work?

Elaine Tinsley

Well, the branch I’m in is in Chirk and Weston Rhyn branch, and you form a committee, as many as you can get. And then they’ll have a function, where they raise money, and then hand it in to the League of Friends to go in their funds to, you know. We have coffee mornings, or we have a dinner, or car boot sale, anything. And whatever we raise is then donated to the main League of Friends here, which is used along with any other money they’ve got.

Interviewer

And how many branches do you have? Do you know?

Elaine Tinsley

I think it’s 12 at the moment.

Interviewer

So that’s quite, I was going to say “quite a nice little earner.” But you don’t…it’s a good way of independently raising money?

Elaine Tinsley

It is. I mean recently it’s gone down what we are. A lot of us are old. A lot of them..our branch members have either unable to come anymore because they’re elderly, or some have passed away, and it’s getting new young members is the problem, or people who want to do it.

Interviewer

Well I, I think Covid changed a lot of how people socialised didn’t it?

Elaine Tinsley

It did. Obviously we had no meetings at all during Covid, and I worked at the hospital by then, and I had to work from home for 15 months, because they wouldn’t let anyone who was elderly especially, come into the hospital.

Interviewer

So your role has transitioned over the years from being a volunteer, to paid staff? Yes. Could you tell me a bit about what your role is now?

Elaine Tinsley

I’m the Accounts Officer for the League of Friends now. So I look after all the invoices, and the bills, and well, anything to do with any money. When a function is held, like the one we had last week, the money all comes to me that I have to count, and bank, and then pay any bills appropriate for it.

Interviewer

So I assume you have an office on site here?

Elaine Tinsley

Yes.

Interviewer

In some ways people would think of the League of Friends as being, well I describe it as quite ‘hand knitted’, but actually when you come here, it’s done beautifully. You’ve got a lovely brand, you can see who you are. You’ve got high profile, you are involved in lots of things. In many ways you feel like quite a solid business. Do you think that’s a fair way of describing you?

Elaine Tinsley

Yes, but I, I just think of it as a family as well, you know? A lot of people volunteers come because they don’t see anybody much at home. It’s just nice to get out… or they don’t go anywhere much and it’s just nice to come, and you meet up, and I know some of the coffee shop volunteers, they meet outside to go out for coffee together. Helps socially as well.

Interviewer

So do you have any favourite memories at all of anything that’s happened here or you’ve been involved in?

Elaine Tinsley

Well I remember when Princess Alexandra came that she came into the coffee shop and she met, you know, we actually met her. So that was her memory.

Interviewer

And sometimes those sort of dignitaries that visit can be really important to volunteers. You know, it can really stick in the memory of people who’ve been introduced, and that sort of thing.

Elaine Tinsley

Oh yes, yes, I think so. because Sometimes they have the photograph, your photographed, and they just enjoy it. Yes. It’s a bit of pleasure for them. Isn’t it?

Interviewer

Good, if somebody’s listening and they’re thinking they’re not sure if volunteering is for them, what would you say to encourage them?

Elaine Tinsley

Oh, and I would say come and try it. I mean there’s various different roles we have. You don’t have to just say in, if you come and try one place, and you don’t like to say the coffee shop, well you can go and try somewhere else, and it gets you out of the house, Make new friends and just help with your social life.

Interviewer

My sense is because you, for example have described how your finance skills have been really used by the League of Friends. So it’s not just the traditional, it’s not just serving in a shop. Is it necessarily that people would come to do? There’s lots of other things.

Elaine Tinsley

Oh, there’s lots of other things. They can go on the ward, and be a ward friend. They do… they take the trolleys around the ward. That’s when I started on the library trolley. I started, my colleague and I ran the library, and then we had about 10 volunteers who used to come, and take the trolley round, and we ran the paperwork side. But I very often ended up going around with the trolley. Somebody didn’t turn up, they weren’t very well, or they were on holiday and it was lovely because you get on the Ward and they were so pleased to talk to somebody else, very often, even if they didn’t want a book, they’d just have a talk for a few minutes, and it would cheer the patients up as well. And it was nice to think that we were helping.

Interviewer

It sounds like they recognised your organisational skills quite early on here. So when you were going to come and speak to me today, was there anything that you had in mind that you wanted to tell me that you haven’t had the chance to say yet?

Elaine Tinsley

No, I don’t think so, no.

Interviewer

Well, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed chatting you and thank you for your time.