9. Matt Smith

Current Chief Operating Officer Matt Smith, is a familiar face to many having been involved with Weldmar Hospicecare for over half of his life.

Matt first became aware of the care and support that the charity provided as a teenager, when his Aunt Geraldine spent time in the hospice. During that time he visited the hospice a few occasions “What I can remember about then, is like we have now, it didn’t feel clinical, it didn’t really feel scary, it just felt like you were going into a really welcoming warm place.”

He wanted to do something to repay the kindness and support his family had received from Weldmar, and with his dad being a keen gardener, he ransacked the vegetable patch he had been growing and started selling the vegetables to raise money for the hospice.

Matt started working for the charity six years later in 2006, when he took on a role as apprentice chef at the hospice. Matt then used his fundraising skills that he first developed at a young age, and joined the fundraising team.

Matt’s personal fundraising didn’t stop when he started working for the charity, dedicating his time to challenges to raise money for Weldmar. In 2017 when he had been at the charity 10 years, Matt decided to take on 10 challenges including swimming with sharks, cycling 175 miles between all the Weldmar charity shops, skydiving and lots more physical challenges. After his aunt was cared for in 2020 Matt set out on a trek walking from where she would stay when visiting Devon to the Inpatient Unit in Dorchester along the Jurassic Coast.

Having had three family members going through Weldmar services the charity will always have such a strong place in Matt and his family’s hearts he said “supported by the service you always feel you’re in debt to the charity, and we hear it a lot from people, but I do think there is that feeling of people are holding you in that most difficult moment of your life.”

“I can’t imagine a place without Weldmar being there and to be able to play a small part in the history and the future, feels like a real honour.”