Well-known music publicists and larger-than-life personality Lydia Winchester recently joined a list of celebrities who decided to back Centurion Hospice by giving their time, knowledge, and expertise.
“I attended a hospice Memorial Day last year and I met amazing, strong people who tended to their loved ones during a cancer battle, who lost them, who when through the bereavement process, who understood death. This whole experience was an eye-opener and I decided that I want to give something back to the hospice community. And I have time and words of motivation to give,” Lydia said.
Lydia, who immortalised singers like Gé Korsten, Annelie van Rooyen and Leon Schuster put her words to practical use when she addressed a group of elderly women during women’s month hospice outreach. “Women must band together. We can’t always rely on men. We must look after ourselves and after each other. “Lydia told the women that her previous husband left her after a marriage of 27 years for a much younger woman. “I walked out of my marriage with nothing. I am a few years away from 70. I don’t have anyone to look after me – I have to look after myself,” she emphasised.
Lydia is very impressed with Centurion Hospice and considers it as one of the best in the country. “If I could describe the hospice in two words the adjectives nice and warm immediately come to mind.”
Being in the music industry for over three decades, Lydia believes that music can aid healing and grief. “Although I work in all music genres (pop, adult contemporary, country and even techno (have you ever), I am a hard-rocker at heart. If I feel down, or done with the world, so to speak, I just listen to my favourite band. The world is at once a better place.”
A word of advice from Lydia?
“Never pretend that you are better than someone else. Keep your feet firmly on the ground.
Believe in yourself and never take things for granted. Be grateful for what you have and live as if tomorrow would be your last day on earth.
“And remember, tomorrow everything will look different.”