In this episode, I welcome Simon Oliver, a facilitator in the Day Hospice at St Raphael's Merton, in Southwest London.

Simon is born and spent his childhood in the 70s-80s in Middlesborough on Teesside alongside his identical twin brother.

On a background of high unemployment due to the industrial decline in the region, Simon was encouraged by his parents to study hard towards securing a sound job.

And it is so that in 1988, Simon successfully became a lawyer in The City where he worked for 30 years.

20 years in when a job share became available, Simon seized the opportunity to use his spare time to volunteer at The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in Putney. He became a befriender, a role he throroughly enjoyed and fulfilled for 10 years. Over the years, Simon went on working in various capacities: as a health care assistant, a receptionist and today as a facilitator.

We talked about the journey that progressively took him away from law and into the day care world, the physicality of being a health care assistant, the hardships of the pandemic on the hospice patients and the authenticity of the elderly. The whole with a lot of laughter along the way.

To find out more about St Raphael's Hospice and Day Care, head to www.straphaels.org.uk and to their Instagram @straphs.

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