Major interest in volunteering at NUH following national recruitment drive | Latest news

Major interest in volunteering at NUH following national recruitment drive

Over 1,600 volunteers provide vital support across Nottingham’s hospitals to improve the experience of patients, their families and staff.

And now, thanks to a national recruitment drive to increase the number of volunteers across the NHS, a further 154 applications have been received to support Nottingham’s local hospitals, including Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham City Hospital and Ropewalk House.

HelpForce is working with hospitals across the UK, including Nottingham, to accelerate improvements in the involvement of volunteers in the NHS, including promoting the benefits of volunteering and the wide range and quality of roles available. A national campaign - #bethehelpforce – invited local communities across the country to get involved and sign up as volunteers in the NHS.

Kerry Harper, Voluntary Services Manager for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, who has worked at the Trust for 20 years, said: “We are committed to seeing how the Trust can make best use of the valuable contribution that volunteers make every day. Our volunteers are valued members of Team NUH and make an important different to the experience of our patients and their families. We’re delighted that through the HelpForce campaign, including high profile national media interest, that over 150 members of our local community are interested in volunteering at our hospitals, joining our over 1,500 strong army of volunteers.

There are over 150 different roles across Nottingham’s hospitals for our volunteers, including meet and greet volunteers, meal time assistants, hospital library, spiritual and pastoral care and our tram volunteers.

One of our meet -and greet volunteers at QMC’s main reception desk, 81 year-old Jill Barnes, has been volunteering for 17 years. Outside of QMC, Jill also volunteers for the Guides, where she has been for over 62 years and has spent over 35 years as a Scout leader. Jill has also won a Pride of Broxtowe Award in 2017.

She said “As a meet and greet volunteer we are often the first people patients and visitors see when they enter the hospital.

“I decided to become a volunteer after trying it out one day a week, and decided that this is what I wanted to do.

“We can see between 200 and 300 patients in a morning shift and we support patients with a friendly greeting and help them to navigate the miles of corridors at QMC.”

If you are interested in volunteering or getting involved in our hospitals, visit: https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/volunteering-opportunities for more information.

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