{"id":154869,"date":"2025-06-03T13:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T13:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/154869\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T13:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T13:14:10","slug":"i-just-loved-talking-to-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/154869\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I just loved talking to people\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Lurgan<\/a> woman who started volunteering after the death of her husband nearly 40 years ago has finally retired at the age of 96.<\/p>\n

Phyllis McIlduff had been a hospital worker when her husband Seamus died in 1990. <\/p>\n

Having left her job, she suddenly found herself with time on her hands and uncertainty about her future at the relatively young age of 60.<\/p>\n

After chatting with a nun on Lurgan street, Sr Mary, she was encouraged to join St Vincent de Paul as a volunteer.<\/p>\n

\"SDLP<\/a>\"‘Slap<\/a><\/p>\n

Before long, she found herself helping out in the childcare centre, giving out juice and spending time with children.<\/p>\n

This led to volunteering at the Vincent\u2019s shop in Lurgan where she instantly loved the buzz of chatting to customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got me out of the house after my husband died, kept me busy and I just loved talking to people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Another first came along in 2018, where Phyllis made her modelling debut for SVP in Cookstown at the Regional Fashion Show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did what I could to help out. Whether that was in Vincent\u2019s, in the childcare centre, modelling. I just wanted to help in any way that I could\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

Recognised by the society as \u2018Volunteer of the Year,\u2019 SVP\u2019s Regional President for the Northern Region \u2013 Mary Waide \u2013 praised Mrs McIlduff\u2019s decades of service. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are indebted to her selflessness and the impact that she has made on the volunteers, staff and people of Lurgan,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn this Volunteers\u2019 Week we would express our thanks to Phyllis and wish her well on her retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to her retirement, Mrs McIlduff added: \u201cI love meeting people in Vincent\u2019s but after 36 years volunteering with St Vincent de Paul I think it\u2019s time to retire. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m slowing down so I know I just need to take it easier but I would say to anyone who might be thinking about volunteering to do it \u2013 you will really enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The largest voluntary charity on the island of Ireland, SVP works to promote self-sufficiency and working diligently for social justice.<\/p>\n

Dedicated volunteers work across all communities to support individuals, regardless of their background, who are battling poverty and social exclusion.<\/p>\n

Fundraising from donors in Northern Ireland is kept within the Northern Region, where SVP spent \u00a35m last year to buy electricity food, gas, oil and household goods. <\/p>\n

For information about getting help from SVP, or for those who wish to become a member, visit www.svp.ie<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Lurgan woman who started volunteering after the death of her husband nearly 40 years ago has finally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[51904,1621,1144,16,15,65816],"class_list":{"0":"post-154869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-charity-shops","9":"tag-lurgan","10":"tag-northern-ireland","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-volunteers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114619619086223569","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}