Graylands Hospital volunteer legend Edna celebrates 100th birthday
Graylands volunteer Edna turns 100.
Long-serving Graylands Hospital volunteer Edna Prosser recently celebrated her 100th birthday, with a morning tea ceremony held in her honour.
Edna has been volunteering with us for an amazing 48 years, for which we are extremely grateful.
She continues to volunteer weekly and remains dedicated to serving the hospital community and the many patients and friends she has made over the years.
A morning tea ceremony was recently held to celebrate Edna's 100th birthday, where Mental Health Executive Director Theresa Marshall reflected on Edna's legend status in the Graylands community.
"Edna's kindness and commitment have created a legacy of compassion. Both patients and staff have nothing but kind words to say about her, and she is well-known by so many, Theresa said.
"She truly is an inspiration," Theresa said.
Edna said her motto has always been "it never hurts to give", and that’s how she’s lived her life. She never forgets the little things, such as birthday and Christmas gifts to brighten a patient’s day.
She has received much feedback from patients over the years, an example is a patient who wrote “thank you for making me feel cared for when I felt forgotten. Your kindness gave me hope.”
Her decades of dedication began volunteering for the local sewing group in the 19702, which sewed and repaired clothes for hospital patients as well as made homemade garments to fundraise for various patient projects.
She helped form the Graylands Hospital Volunteers Service Inc, where she served as president for 35 years, before stepping down from the role in 2023. She is still a committee member and still volunteers at Graylands every Wednesday.
Over the years Edna has raised money for various projects, such as refurbishing a kitchen, commissioning art murals to brighten the hospital, created emergency packs and new clothes for patients. She's also arranged fundraising stalls, taken patients on outings, helped set up a shop inside Frankland, help develop the volunteer centre, and established the Volunteer's Op Shop.
Wishing Edna a very happy birthday and we offer our congratulations and gratitude for her incredible life of service.