This February, we’re remembering Hazel Wilcock, our friend and colleague who tragically died a year ago.
Hazel’s death last February stunned the whole community.
Close friend Jemma Major said: “Hazel was like a second mother to me and I miss her terribly. She was a big part of all our lives. She was best friends with my mum Karin for 40 years, having worked together as social workers in the 80s.
“We live just up the road from her house so we have to see it every day and it brings back the tragedy. Not that she’s ever far from our thoughts.”
Hazel was a Senior Counsellor at St Ann’s and helped to further develop our psychological support services to reach even more people during the pandemic.
Fittingly, family, friends and colleagues are raising funds for counselling rooms at the charity’s new hospice in Heald Green.
A charity bike she planned to undertake from Manchester to Blackpool last summer turned into a mass tribute to the much-loved health professional.
Jemma Major, along with Hazel’s partner Tony Dewes and stepdaughter Annmarie, were in a group with 10 other riders who cycled to raise money in memory of Hazel.
“The bike ride was torture and very hard for me and I think the other girls will say the same, apart from Annmarie who’s quite fit. The fact that Hazel had entered the bike ride spurred us on to do it. She talked about it all the time it was really nice to do it in her memory. The new counselling rooms will mean her kind and caring legacy may live on. Hazel was truly one of a kind and she touched so many people.”
– Jemma Major, Hazel’s close friend
Over £13,000 has been raised in memory of Hazel. Those funds will be put towards the cost of counselling rooms at the new site, to be built next to the current site in Heald Green.
If you’d like to make a donation, please visit the JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jemma-major2
