Alison Cooper celebrates 50 years of volunteering

When you walk into our hospital, often the first person encountered is a smiling soul whose friendly demeanour helps welcome you and gives you the first impression of St John of God Health Care’s commitment to Hospitality.

6 Sep 2018

For 50 years, one of those people has been Alison Cooper who joined the St John of God Bendigo Hospital Auxiliary in 1968.

“It all started when the Bishop told me that the Sisters of St John of God were coming from England and Ireland and were planning to open a hospital in Bendigo,” Alison said.

“When they first arrived I immediately became close with them and we started a committee to raise money to help them build the new hospital.”

Back in 1968, Australia was very different – the population was about 11 million (which has now more than doubled), homes cost $15,000, the average income was $7,850 and two of our leading stars Kylie Minogue and Hugh Jackman entered the world.

Just as the nation has changed around her, Alison has also seen her fair share of changes at the hospital since starting as a volunteer that same year.

“I was often down at the hospital and my children would refer to it as my second home. After the hospital opened, I started an archive with all the press cuttings and photos I had collected in the early days,” Alison said.

“I have volunteered in all areas of the hospital, probably one of my favourite roles was caring for the babies while their mums took part in hydrotherapy classes.”

Alison’s contribution to the hospital lives on through the more than $1 million she has helped raise over the past 50 years as well as her intimate knowledge of the hospital.

“Over the years I have helped the hospital find time capsules that we buried and uncover a marble wall in the chapel which was once covered over and is now exposed thanks to a more recent refurbishment,” she said.

Now aged 83, Alison continues to volunteer, maintaining the hospital’s archive that she started all those years ago, and whether she agrees or not, she has become a part of the hospital’s history.

St John of God Bendigo Hospital Volunteer Manager James Breene said no hospital could survive without its team of volunteers.

“Alison has helped set the benchmark for service and dedication,” he said.

“Alison is an irreplaceable link with our past and the go-to person in terms of our history, our identity and the foundations, both literal and emotional, that make us who we are today.”

To mark Alison’s 50 years of service, a mass was celebrated in her honour at St John of God Bendigo Hospital in September.