There are many things that Rosie does in the parish, most with official titles ranging from Local Worship Leader to assisting with liturgical ministry, Lay Pastoral Minister to volunteering with the chaplaincy at the local hospital, to opening-up the church at 7.15am to prepare for Holy Communion. But over-arching all these is a twinkle in Rosie’s eye that shines out her love of God and for his people.

In her soft Brummie accent Rosie says, “I just love what I do. For me, helping people to receive Holy Communion is sharing the Lord’s supper. A lady in a care home the other day said that she felt the power of God got right through her as she took Communion. It’s so powerful and such a privilege to be present at these times.”

“I just love what I do. For me, helping people to receive Holy Communion is sharing the Lord’s supper…it’s so powerful and such a privilege to be present at these times.”

Over the years, through her pastoral work at the care homes and hospital, Rosie has come alongside many people as they approach their final days. One gentleman, Frank, was particularly poignant. A Brummie as well, Frank, who was 102, loved to tell jokes, “Tell that one to John when you get home, Rosie!” he used to say. He went for lunch at a local care home once a week and loved it. It was a joy for him to be with people. When the lunches stopped, he became quite low and Rosie offered pastoral care at home from the team, but Frank asked if she could come, saying cheekily, “Better the devil you know!” Needless to say, they got on like a house of fire and their friendship endured until the end. “That was hard,” says Rosie, who was beside her friend until the last as she assisted at his funeral, “But he’s gone to the Lord, so that makes me feel better.”

“Helping people is what keeps me going!”

Rosie is struggling a bit at the moment following a diagnosis of diabetes after her husband John found her in a coma. “But the Lord was with me the whole time,” she says. The biggest burden for Rosie is that she cannot do all the things she used to and finds it hard to follow doctor’s orders to slow down, “Helping people is what keeps me going!”

And Rosie’s ‘helping people’ makes her a key member of the pastoral team at St Petroc’s: she regularly visits three care homes, offering residents communion; she visits people at home; is a volunteer visitor attached to the chaplaincy at Bodmin Hospital, visiting wards three days a week and is sometimes called upon when someone is particularly sick.

It has been said of Rosie that much of what she does goes under the radar and this award offers her the recognition and thanks she deserves. Rosie just laughs and says she is being given an award for doing what she loves to do and wants it to be known that the people to thank are all the clergy who have helped her.