Published 10 August 2022
Tributes have been paid to a stalwart hospital fundraiser, who spent 40 years volunteering with the League of Friends of the QEQM.
Amanda Voizey’s connection with the hospital started when she left school and worked in medical records.
She joined her mother Daphne Bennett on the committee of what was then the Margate and Haine League of Friends in 1982, and worked tirelessly for the next four decades, especially organising and collecting raffle prizes and arranging the purchase of Christmas presents delivered to every patient in hospital for the festive season.
Amanda and her husband Jeremy had been married for 56 years, and she took over the position of treasurer from him in 2000 when he became chairman. As treasurer she oversaw the collection of more than £1million for the charity, which helped buy items to benefit patients and staff.
Jeremy said: “For more than half her life she was involved with the League of Friends and it gave her great pleasure to see the positive outcomes for the patients of QEQM that the LOF had facilitated.”
Amanda joined Ashford Ladies Circle in 1971, moving to Sandwich Ladies Circle in 1977. She then was a member of Margate Inner Wheel, joining them when Jeremy became a member of Margate Rotary in 1982, and held almost all the various posts in the club, culminating in becoming president in 2006/7.
She joined in district and overseas Rotary events, such as international conventions, making many friends all over the world. In 2014 she received the Paul Harris Fellowship Award in recognition of all her hard work helping those less fortunate than herself.
Jeremy said: “She wore the PHF pin with great pride knowing that few non-Rotarians receive this award.
“She was a magnificent support to me as I undertook my own roles in Rotary, but underlying all this involvement was her deep love for her family.
“She would often recall the many occasions when the family met for meals together and in particular the annual programme of visiting different capital cities for a few days in the October half term.
“Not only will the local and international communities no longer benefit from all her hard work but her family – myself, Guy and Tina, Charlotte and Teresa and grandchildren Stuart and Molly - will miss her deeply.”
Sylvia Pheils, chair of the League of Friends, said Amanda had been a key member of the team, helping to organise and take part in fundraising events from fashion shows and fetes to concerts and quizzes.
She said: “She sold tickets, made sandwiches, baked cakes, organised table plans and raffle prizes.
“It was she who ordered the Christmas cards and the raffle tickets, who provided cash for the floats, prepared our monthly reports, and who willingly took on the extra financial bookwork when the League of Friends took over the coffee shop in the Walmer outpatient department.
“Amanda worked quietly, efficiently and cheerfully behind the scenes to benefit the League of Friends and always with the aim of benefitting the hospital’s patients and staff.
“We, her fellow League of Friends committee members, will feel her loss dreadfully. Our heartfelt condolences go to her husband Jeremy and her family.”
