Randy's volunteering journey nears £400,000

Randy’s volunteering journey nears £400,000

As part of Hospice Care Week 2022, we’re re-visiting some of the wonderful care stories from across the year. Hospice Care week runs from 10-14th October and is a chance to celebrate the value of support, of care and of what matters to us at the end of life when we need it most.

A 97-year-old Hospice volunteer says his passion for St Michael’s is as great as it has ever been.

Randy Langford has been collecting donation tins for his Hospice for almost three decades.

In that time, he has helped bring almost £400,000 into St Michael’s by picking up tins from schools, places of work and community centres across Herefordshire.

Randy’s figure has been boosted by the sale of festive Hospice Christmas badges, distributed countywide.

“I hope to reach £400,000 very soon,” said Randy, who lives in Mordiford.

“If it hadn’t have been for Covid, I think I’d have got there already.

“I really enjoy meeting so many lovely people, and I always try to leave them with a laugh.

“People appreciate St Michael’s so much, and they are so generous.”

At any one time, Randy has more than 200 Hospice tins in shops and workplaces across Hereford and beyond. There are a number of willing volunteers who help him out.

Randy’s collecting journey began in the early 1990s following a chat with John Caiger, then a member of the Hospice’s Development Trust.

He asked Randy whether he would be interested in picking up collection tins from shops and workplaces, but Randy found precious little in the way of collecting tins – particularly full ones – early on.

“I phoned John, told him things weren’t good, and asked if I could use my initiative and take the tins into some new places, which he agreed to.” 

The rest, as they say, is history and Randy regularly brings dozens of full tins back to the Hospice’s Fundraising team office. 

“Randy is the very definition of selfless,” said Mike Keel, the St Michael’s Hospice Chief Executive.

“For years, his devotion to St Michael’s has helped ensure our community’s generosity is returned to the Hospice. 

“There can’t be many who don’t know Randy. He is a wonderful ambassador for St Michael’s, always carrying out this vital voluntary role with enthusiasm, dedication, and a great sense of humour.”

Anyone interested in keeping a collection tin at their shop, business or place of work should call St Michael’s Hospice on 01432 851000 and ask for Zoe.