Liz Tweddell (formerly Bevan) was the first professional, paid fundraiser for St Richard’s. Liz’s interview covers her involvement with the Hospice from 1984, when she says St Richard’s ‘found’ her. Liz touches on the various fundraising events that she introduced, including the Worcestershire Woman of the Year, and her coup in persuading Princess Diana to visit St Richard’s twice, once at Castle Street and later at Rose Hill.
Part 1
Liz started to work for the hospice in 1984 from the back kitchen of Jenny Bulman’s house in Droitwich. She says that St Richard’s found her – rather than the other way round – after her previous successful fundraising mission to save Huntington Hall from demolition.
In the following extract, she talks about her scary interview for the St Richard’s job, the influence of the first hospice patients she met and how she went about raising the profile of the organisation.
Part 2
Liz was forever coming up with new ideas, and introducing amazing and sometimes bizarre fundraising events into the St Richard’s calendar. One of the most important, still going strong all these years later, was the Worcestershire Woman of the Year. In the following extract, Liz talks about setting up this event. She also reveals how she persuaded Princess Diana to visit Castle Street in 1989.
Part 3
Liz was to meet the Princess of Wales again a couple of years later when she officially opened Rose Hill, St Richard’s new premises on the London Road in Worcester. Liz recalls her first visit to this beautiful Victorian house; it was scruffy and needed a lot of work but it felt right. In the following extract, Liz tells the extraordinary story of how the hospice raised the money to restore and furnish it.
