Celebrating Pat Hirst — Unsung Hero Award

We were delighted to recognise Pat Hirst as a runner-up for our Unsung Hero Award, celebrating three decades of quiet, tireless service at Wesleys Café, the beating heart of the Warm Welcome Space at Baildon Methodist Church.

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Long before "Warm Welcome Space" was a phrase anyone had thought to use, Pat and her late husband Keith were already building one. That's when it all started. Back in 1996, Pat began cooking lunchtime meals for local people of all ages on a purely voluntary basis, gradually encouraging others to join her. Thirty years on, Wesleys Café now welcomes around 1,200 people every week for meals, activities, and simply the company of friends.

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Always saying yes

Ask Pat to help and the answer is always the same: yes. She has given up countless weekends to keep the café open for special community events: Yorkshire Day, the Scarecrow Festival, Baildon at Christmas, often on her feet from 10am to 5pm serving hundreds of turkey butties and pizzas. She still finds the time and energy to prepare 200 mince pies each Christmas and the same number of hot cross buns at Easter, each one handed out with a warm, welcoming message to the community.

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Pat has a particular gift for supporting people at their hardest moments. She organises a team of volunteers to provide "funeral teas" for bereaved families, setting out the room beautifully with flowers and preparing a buffet tea, so that grieving families are met with grace, comfort, and love.

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A rota of over 70

What began as one woman cooking lunch has grown into a rota of more than 70 volunteers, all following the example Pat set from the very start: service with a big smile. She coordinates the rota, welcomes new volunteers, fills gaps when needed, bakes cakes for the café every single week, and makes special provisions for guests with dementia and for refugees from Ukraine. In December 2025 alone, Pat coordinated Christmas dinner for 150 people over two days.

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Despite serious illness and bereavement of her own, Pat has remained at the centre of it all. She knows almost everyone who walks through the door, and her smile and laughter light up the café.

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Looking ahead

Pat approached her 85th birthday this year, and true to form, her greatest wish isn't to be looked after, it's to look after others. She hopes to host a tea for all her fellow volunteers, and, of course, insists on baking the cakes herself.

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Pat Hirst was a runner-up for the Unsung Hero Award (Individual) at the inaugural Warm Welcome Awards in June 2026.

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