With it being February, the month of love, we wanted to celebrate the wonderful relationship that was built within our Oldham shop – introducing Mr and Mrs Wild!
Kath kindly shares how her and her now husband, Steve, were brought together by Shop Manager Pauline aka ‘Cupid’…
“I met Steve as a fellow volunteer in 2021, when I first started volunteering. He worked upstairs and I was on the shop floor. I felt volunteering would be a great way to give something back, my first husband passed away from cancer and lived with Atrial Fibrillation caused by a long-term lung problem.
“Meanwhile, Steve had been volunteering in the shop since 2011, following retirement from a very stressful job, and a widower himself, he found volunteering at BHF gave purpose at a very difficult time in his life.
“One day, Pauline (aka Cupid!) mentioned to Steve that I was a nice lady who enjoyed the outdoors as I had a trailer tent and she asked me if had been invited to his caravan in Wales yet - I was more than a little surprised and quite nervous as to what I would do if he asked me!
“Later that day, Steve came onto the shopfloor and asked me if I would like to go for a meal with him as a friend, to a local pub. We made arrangements for the following Wednesday evening.
“That evening he called at my home to pick me up with a lovely bouquet of yellow roses for friendship. We had a lovely evening with lots of talking and laughter.
“We continued to enjoy each other’s company, we attended local social clubs for Rock ‘n’ Roll nights, karaoke and dancing and I invited him to join the choir I was part of. He was friendly, helpful, and came to my home to help me with some jobs.
“Quickly our friendship blossomed. He bought me a ring as a friendship token. I chose a small diamond and gold band instead of the traditional clasped hands ring.
“One weekend I was invited to visit his caravan in Wales. It was such a lovely caravan and reminded me of our family caravan in Weston-Super- Mare when my sister and I were children.
“We sat and chatted, and Steve revealed he couldn’t honour our friendship! Well, I thought that’s the end of that!
“But Steve continued, he said that he wanted to ask me a question but was unsure what my answer would be. ‘Oh right’ I replied, not thinking about what he was going to ask.
“He said that if he was to ask me whether I would do him the honour of marrying him, what my answer would be. I said that he would have to ask me! So, he did…and I said YES!
“Both of us had always said that we wouldn’t marry again as I was widowed and had a relationship after, that had ended badly, and Steve was a widower. We were just looking for companionship, but something changed that for both of us.
“We were officially engaged on Rhyl beach with Steve going down on one knee to propose, all of it being photographed by a couple that were walking their dog. There were some tears but lots of laughter when Steve asked me to help him up as his foot got stuck between the rocks.
“We had a joint engagement and birthday party for Steve at home in November 2023 with donations to three charities instead of presents. I also surprised Steve by booking our Wedding Ceremony for the following January on the 19th as that was my 66th birthday.
“We had a beautiful ceremony with friends and family at The Oak Room, Chadderton Town Hall.
“I was given away by my son, my four granddaughters were bridesmaids, and my grandson was a pageboy. As both Manager, Pauline and Assistant Manager, Michael have been very supportive over the years for both of us, Steve asked Pauline to be his honorary Mum for the day and Michael to be his best man – they did a brilliant job on the day and beyond!
“Afterwards, we had a reception at North Chadderton Social and Bowling Club with a DJ and a live Rock n Roll band ‘The Emperors of Rhythm’ I did the catering for 200 with the help of my family and friends and everyone had a great time. We donated to four charities instead of presents.
“Following our wedding day, it was time for our honeymoon!
“Our honeymoon was in three parts – a week in Scarborough (my favourite place) in January. Followed by a trip to the USA in October, stopping in Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans. Our third part is a trip to New Zealand and Singapore to visit Steve’s family in January 2025, however this has had to be postponed due to illness, but hopefully we’ll rearrange that soon!
“Our relationship has been a real roller coaster but without Pauline and BHF Oldham we would never have got together.
“So, thank you!”