Heartbeat: Wave goodbye to… Karen Godwin

September 29, 2020

After 36 years of service, we have said goodbye to Karen Godwin, Hotel Services Manager.

Karen joined our workplace in June 1984 as a domestic assistant in a bid to support her family. She told Heartbeat: “When I joined I realised there was an opportunity to develop so I took the opportunities that became available. I trained in supervision within ward services which saw me secure a supervisory role. I soon moved on to become general office manager, and after completing my degree in Management Studies at the University of Wolverhampton in 2010, I was appointed to my current role in 2015.

“I am grateful to the Trust for all the support they have given me to develop my career over the years. I have always had incredible support from my line manager and the teams I have managed,” reflected Karen.

“Hotel Services is a wonderful department; the teams are hardworking and always put the patients’ needs first. Their dedication to their work has always shone and during this pandemic they have gone above and beyond to keep our hospitals clean, delivering food service to our patients, providing laundry and linen services. It has been my absolute privilege to work as a part of such a dedicated team, I will miss them dearly.”

Jan Clarke, Head of Support Services, has worked with Karen for several years. She said: “Karen has been a loyal, professional and hardworking manager and she has been an asset to the Trust. Retiring is a very happy occasion for Karen – I know that she has been looking forward to hanging up her boots; however, for myself and her colleagues, it is tinged with sadness because she will be missed. We all wish her the very best for her future.”

So, what does Karen have planned for her retirement?

“Not waking up at 5.30 am every day,” she laughed. “I look forward to spending time with my family and hopefully when the world gets back to some sort of old normality, doing lots of travel.