3 Feb 2026 Community

From Remembrance to Fundraising, The Boots team are united for The Kirkwood

As Boots Opticians prepares to open the doors to its new Huddersfield store, the move marks more than a change of address. For store Manager Hayley Higgins and her team, it is a moment to remember a much loved colleague while supporting The Kirkwood, whose care helped her in the final chapter of her life. 

Hayley and her colleagues came to The Kirkwood's Dalton site to talk about the services they are providing at their new store. To explain about why they are doing this and their connection to The Kirkwood, Hayley said: “We’re here today because we’re launching a two day training session for our team at The Kirkwood as we prepare to relocate our Boots Opticians store. We’re moving into a new shop, and it felt really important to mark that move by doing something meaningful rather than it just being about bricks and mortar.”

The decision to partner with The Kirkwood is deeply personal. Five years ago, the hospice provided palliative care at home for Helen O’Brien, a long standing member of the Boots team: “The reason we chose The Kirkwood is because you cared for one of our colleagues when she sadly passed away. That care meant such a lot to her, and to all of us.”

Helen had worked for Boots and the wider Boots family for around 20 years, joining straight from school. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, went into remission, and then, during Covid, learned the cancer had returned and spread to her brain. She was cared for at home, exactly as she wished, before dying in 2021.

“She was a fabulous lady and such a huge part of our team,” Hayley recalls. “She did the majority of our admin and, like all admin people do, she kept everyone in line. She also knew absolutely everything, she was our little gossip which was brilliant for me as a store manager because she’d tell me everything that was going on, she’s truly missed.”

Helen’s final months fell during the height of the pandemic, colleagues were limited in how they could support her and say goodbye. Only three were able to attend her funeral due to restrictions: “That was incredibly hard for all of us. However we did manage to see her not long before we realised how bad things were. That was very much her decision, she was very proud and wanted us to remember her how she was.”

Although Helen is no longer physically present, her memory remains woven into everyday life at the store: “Helen has never really left us. We’ve still got her shoes in the office, her notebook, and we still keep sweets in the drawer. She’s written all over the place, really. This move feels like the right time to make sure she comes with us to the new shop and that her memory stays alive.”

The relocation itself marks an exciting step forward. The store is moving from King Street to much larger premises on Victoria Lane, featuring five testing rooms, integrated hearing care, seven booths and a private dispensing area allowing the team to work more closely with the NHS and deliver community eye care.

Alongside the move, the team is launching a fundraising effort in Helen’s memory. Activities will include a prize draw and tombola on the store’s opening day, alongside fundraising during staff training sessions. The team has set a target of £500, which will be matched by the company if reached.

“If we hit £500, that becomes £1,000,” Hayley says. “But if I’m honest, I think we can do more than that.”

For Hayley, supporting The Kirkwood is about recognising the vital role the hospice plays across the region: “The Kirkwood is huge to the local community. It really does say it in the name, it’s Kirklees through and through.

Everybody knows the name, but do people really understand what you provide? I didn’t, until I learned just how much support you give. If The Kirkwood wasn’t here, what would people do at that point in their lives.”

As the team prepares to open a new chapter on Victoria Lane, they do so carrying Helen’s memory with them and with a renewed commitment to supporting the hospice that cared for one of their own when it mattered most. Visit their fundraising page HERE.