Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June): Celebrating our incredible volunteers at Nottinghamshire Healthcare

It’s Volunteers’ Week, 1 – 7 June, and we’re celebrating and recognising the fantastic work of our volunteers.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare has over 150 registered volunteers who give hundreds of hours of their time every week supporting our colleagues, patients and their families. Our volunteers bring skills, knowledge and a desire to make a difference to our services and the lives of the people we care for.

We spoke to Lucy Paine, who has been a volunteer at the Trust for 2 years. She began volunteering as she wanted to give back to the service that has supported her throughout the good and bad times in her life.

Lucy’s volunteering story:

“For me, volunteering for Nottinghamshire Healthcare was a great opportunity to give back to a profession that helped me and so many others when they needed it”, explains Lucy. “I began volunteering in Children and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS), experiencing face to face, patient contact, supporting children with anxiety and depression that struggled to get out of the house.

“The experience I received was great and was a strong reason as to why I want to train to be a nurse! The Involvement, Experience and Volunteering (IEV) team has been so friendly and supportive over the past 3 years, I don’t know what I’d do without them now. Any query, no matter how big or small, they are always there to help you out, and care about you as a person, your story and most importantly, your wellbeing.

Lucy adds, “I currently volunteer at Highbury Hospital, as a Patient Experience Volunteer, collecting patient feedback, good and bad! I am a friendly face to all patients that wish to talk to me, and interact with them through activities, 1:1s and when they attend the monthly patient forum.

“Being a volunteer allows me to form strong connections with service users, and I can empathise with them on a level that not many others will understand because I have a personal experience to them, and I get what they are going through.

“Nottinghamshire Healthcare has some incredible volunteers who add great value to a patient’s journey. Whether it’s having a chat, playing a game or listening to them if they need to have a little cry, they appreciate the time and effort you give to them!

Joanna Rapson, Volunteering and Befriending Lead added “As part of Volunteers' Week we want to extend a huge thank you to all our volunteers at the Trust who have provided support throughout the past 12 months.

Within the Trust, we have volunteers who help us in a number of areas including chaplaincy and spiritual care, providing comfort, reflection and prayer to patients during difficult times.  We have Volunteer Visitors within our Forensic Hospitals, meeting, chatting and supporting our patients, helping them gain confidence in themselves and others.  Others offer their support on wards, spending time with patients, making friends and helping to reduce loneliness and isolation.  Volunteering is not just an individual experience either as we also have a team of Patient & Carer Experience volunteers who visit hospitals to gain feedback from our patients and carers, which in turn helps improve the experiences they have.

Interested in volunteering with us?

If Lucy's story has inspired you to come and volunteer or become an Involvement Partner with Nottinghamshire Healthcare, you can find out more about these roles here: https://involve.nottshc.nhs.uk/get-involved-menu/