A RETIRED aerospace engineer has made iPad and phone holders for patients at a hospice to easily talk to their families.

Austin McBride from Blackburn has made a wooden block to help patients at Pendleside Hospice to speak to their families on phones and tablets without needing to hold it.

Mr McBride who is 73-years-old, is also an approved Reflexology Lymph Drainage practitioner.

He said: “I used to volunteer at the hospice for four years, but now I have a back injury and also because of the pandemic I had to stop.”

Mr McBride retrained as a reflexologist and aromatherapist to support cancer patients at the hospice.

He said: "I just became interested and managed to get on a course where you could carry on working and study in the evening.

“It’s just marvellous what you can do with it and when I worked at the hospice, I could help them with soothing therapy, they loved it.

“During the lockdown I was practicing my guitar, and with my kindle I had the music sheets up, but I had to balance my phone against something.

“It would fall, so I made wood blocks to hold phones stable.”

Mr McBride noticed one day while watching North West Tonight that ICU wards were struggling to get patients talking to families on phones because they had to hold it for them.

He thought his blocks could help with that, because phones can be slot in without needing to hold anything.

Mr McBride got in touch with Pendleside Hospice and gave them two blocks to try out.

He has also sold them privately to anyone who requires one.

He said: “They were really helpful to them so recently I donated ten more of the blocks.

“Now, the nurses do not need to be with the patients when they use their phones and iPads to talk to their families.

“Even my wife said she could do with one of those.”

He has also donated any money from private sales of the new block to the hospice.

After losing his first wife 30 years ago to Leukaemia, Mr McBride has always been interested in helping others.

He said: “The hospice means a great deal to me, I’ve made some lovely friends and I can’t wait to go back in the future to volunteer again at the hospice.”

The inventive 73-year-old worked for Rolls Royce throughout his career and says he has enjoyed working as an engineer.