21 Jan 2022 Community

Andrea’s story about her time working with The Kirkwood

The Kirkwood are proud to work with many people across Kirklees, and we’re always delighted when to meet new people from further afield. One such person is the delightful Andrea Hynd, who has recently been volunteering in our Huddersfield shop. Coming from Germany, Andrea was on a four-month sabbatical and decided to come and help in our store.  

Andrea, 60, is a palliative care nurse back in her home nation, a role she has been doing for the last 11 years.Since 2014, she has headed up the District Nursing service in her local area.  

Being a palliative nurse, Andrea has a strong understanding of care The Kirkwood offer and how important our services are to the people of Kirklees. Joining The Kirkwood in October, she spent six weeks helping our team in our Huddersfield shop.  

On her time with The Kirkwood, Andrea said: “I do have a full-time job organising district nurses going into people’s homes and looking after them, I have done that for 11 years, so last year I applied to my employer to take a sabbatical. From October to the end of November I came over to England to volunteer for The Kirkwood. I wanted to take a break from my job, recharge my batteries and relax a little bit and learn something new.  

“I didn’t want to just lay around and do nothing I wanted to do something useful and learn new things. With me being a palliative care nurse, I wanted to work with an organisation that did something like what I do in my job. However, I wanted to work in a different department, so that is why I applied to work in the charity shop in Huddersfield. 

“I helped out in the shop and the team welcomed me very well, they were a great bunch of people who work in the shop. There is so much work to be done here and the charity keeps striving to be better which is great. 

“I enjoy the charity shop idea. It’s not something we really have in Germany. They once tried it in the village I live in, but it never really took off. They brought the idea over from the UK but it just didn’t work in the area, which really surprised me.  

“When you talk to people who have either been cared for by The Kirkwood, volunteer for or work for the charity you get an understanding of what it means to people in this area. They want to give something back to a great charity that helps hundreds of people. 

“I have not regretted one minute being involved with The Kirkwood, the way the whole team welcomed me was just fantastic. I enjoyed all the conversations I had with people and the work I did with the charity.  

This isn’t the first time Andrea has visited the UK.She first came to England in 1978, gaining work experience at a chemist in Halifax. Just being 17 at the time, Andrea had much to learn about the language in England and the way in which we live.  

Andrea said: “I used to go to a boarding school in Germany run by nuns. It was very hard, but it was almost like a pre-training school for nursing. I finished school in 1978 and came over to England to take part in some work experience at a chemist in Halifax.  

“Back in Germany I had connections with the British Army, who had two camps in the town I lived in. Through those connections and with the help of a teacher I had, I was able to get a placement at the chemist in Halifax.  

“I loved my time in England back then, I found things over here very relaxed, the family I stayed with took me out on the weekend and we often visited the Lake District. I found the countryside here so beautiful and fascinating. 

“When I first came over I was 17. I had to get used to how people lived in England as it was quite different to life back in Germany. The family who owned the chemist and who I lived with did do a continental kitchen, which was like the foods I liked back in Germany. 

Just months before her first  visit to Yorkshire, Andrea was introduced to her now husband, Norman, a former soldier in the British Army, who was stationed in Germany back in 1978. The couple met when Norman stayed with Andrea’s family during a period of leave. 

Once she returned to Germany, she moved in with Norman, before they  moved to the UK, where they lived for four years, first in Oxford then in Poole. Andrea had both her children here, daughter Victoria, now 35, and son Christopher, 33. 

Andrea and Norman then decided to move back to Germany, Andrea visits England every so often and still keeps in contact with the family that owned the chemist all those years ago.  

She said: “My love for the country has grown and my two children were born here, Norman is now a civilian, and we try to come across to the UK whenever it’s possible. Whenever I come to the UK we always look around the charity shops, I have stayed in contact with the family at the chemist and we talk all the time.  

“The plan for me and Norman is that when I retire it would be great if we could get a house over here and visit both England and Germany in the same year. 

“I would like to do some more volunteering over here, and I would love to return to The Kirkwood as I have enjoyed my time at the charity so much. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who works for the charity and to those who have given me this opportunity.  

Having now returned to Germany, everyone at The Kirkwood would like to wish Andrea and Norman well for the future we hope to see them return to England soon.