MOST people choose to take it easy after retiring from work – but not Iris Parks.

When the 83-year-old finished work as a secretary she decided to get into volunteering and has just retired after 20 years at the Douglas Macmillan Hospice.

The great-grandmother began helping out at the Blurton hospice in 1990.

She says she didn't know what to expect the first time she visited the adult hospice, but was surprised with how friendly it was and has since made a number of companions.

Mrs Parks, who lives on Atherstone Road, Trentham, said: "I was a little apprehensive when I first went there, because I hadn't been to a hospice before.

"It is a very friendly place though, The staff are wonderful and the patients are lovely.

"Some of the patients are only there for a short while, but others are there for a long stay so you really get to know them."

Mrs Parks took some time for herself after leaving the engineering company Simon Hartley, where she worked for 12 years, in the early 1980s.

She decided to volunteer at the hospice after hearing an appeal and started in the tea bar.

The mother-of-two, who is also a grandmother-of-two, then transferred to the in-patient unit, to work on the wards, where she spent one day a week doing jobs such as making the beds.

Mrs Parks has chosen to retire due to health reasons. She plans to take it easy and spend more time on her hobbies including knitting.

Mrs Parks said: "Things changed while I was at the hospice, but that is just how time goes on.

"When I first started, we had to sterilise water jugs by hand, but now we have got a machine and that is much quicker.

"The hospice has changed too. With new wards being added, it is much bigger.

"I'm 83 now and my health isn't as it was so I thought it was time to go. I will miss it a lot."

Guy Clarke, facilities and voluntary services manager at the hospice, said: "Iris has played an important role as a volunteer within the hospice organisation over the last 20 years.

"I wish Iris all the best in her retirement. She will always be welcome to return."