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The accordion player who has been busking in hospital for 35 years

Mairead Smyth,North West and
Lauren Hirst,North West
News imageEast Cheshire NHS Trust John Jones, who is smiling at the camera, is standing in a hallway in a hospital and is holding an accordion.East Cheshire NHS Trust
John Jones taught himself to play the accordion after his father passed away

For 35 years, volunteer John Jones has been entertaining patients and visitors at Macclesfield District General Hospital by playing the accordion.

The 84-year-old retired engineer discovered his love of the accordion as a child, watching his father play the instrument.

"My dad played the accordion all the time and I could play the piano a little bit," he said.

"When he died, I started messing around with his accordion.

"One half is like a piano, but the other half is completely different with buttons.

"I had to teach myself, but I really enjoyed it."

He has since been using his musical talents to raise money for East Cheshire NHS Charity.

John's volunteering began after visiting the hospital with his mother-in-law in 1991 where he saw an appeal for a CT scanner.

He has since raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for the charity.

"One of the nicest moments was about five years after helping to raise the money for the scanner, I had to have a CT scan myself," said John who has an MBE for services to charity.

"The nurse said, 'That's ironic, you're using the scanner you helped pay for.' That really stayed with me."

'It's a privilege'

The money has been used to fund a family room at the hospital intensive care unit, where his wife June died from sepsis in 2020.

"She'd been in intensive care five years earlier with sepsis as well, but she managed to survive that one," said John, who also performs in care homes.

"I asked if I could specifically collect for intensive care unit which is very close to my heart really because my youngest daughter is matron in intensive care in Australia.

"Obviously I know all the staff personally because they've been here all that time."

Zara Jones, chief executive at East Cheshire NHS Trust, said: "It's a privilege having so many people who are willing to give up their time to work here.

"A number of the volunteers I've met also have their own stories about care they've received here or their family or friends have had care here as well so it means a lot to them personally and we're really keen to support them."

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