Stories of volunteers supporting the health service since 1949
221 results
League of Friends of Uckfield Community HospitalIn 1881 Richard Streatfield, Squire of Uckfield donated a house and grounds to the town to be used as a hospital and it continued to expand during the first half of the 20th century. As Uckfield and its surroundings grew, the hospital required rad...
Patty Yiu, Friends of Aspen CourtPatty has been a consistent volunteer at Aspen Court Care Home for over a year. With a background in social work and service in Hong Kong, Patty continues to serve those around her as she dedicates her time to the residents of Aspen Court, while also...
Anne moved to Basildon after her marriage, and began working at Basildon Hospital as a Ward Clerk, a job she loved, and stayed in for 14 years. She retired at 60 due to health issues, and having been staff for many years, knew about the Friends throu...
On retirement and after 25 years in Stourbridge, Phil and his wife made the move to Bridgnorth just over 4 years ago. Phil started his career as a trained engineer before moving on to product design and project management. While not having volunte...
League of Friends of Newport (Shropshire) Cottage Care CentreEstablished in 1973 as a support group to the Cottage Hospital, and then to the Cottage Care Centre, the League of Friends of Newport Cottage Hospital is made up of members of the general public, with the goal to raise money for the care centre and t...
St Oswalds Hospital was built in 1848 originally as a Union Workhouse for the poor. In 1930 it became the Ashbourne Public Assistance Institution and then in 1948 was made part of the NHS as St Oswalds Hospital. The hospital had two wards which ac...
Kennedy Rath, Friends of OaklandsRecently retired, Kennedy decided to spend his newfound free time volunteering at the Friends of Oaklands Dementia Cafe. Having previously been an Optometrist, Kennedy seeks to resume his social interactions through service coffee and chatting with...
Julia Reeves, Friends of Acorn LodgeJulia recounts her time as the Acorn Lodge Wellbeing Coordinator, highlighting the impact of having young volunteers participate. She continues working with Friends of Acorn Lodge to provide activities for residents and community members, creating me...
Margaret and Jean met as dinner ladies at the local school. They have been best of friends ever since. They got involved with the Bridgnorth Hospital League of Friends after leaving work. They talk about their time pushing trolleys around the wards w...
Julia Davies started her career as a nurse at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. In her 30s, she moved over to Bridgnorth Hospital as a Senior Enrolled Nurse. From there, the moved to another hospital and eventually ended up teaching at Staffs University.As ...
Michael Greenhow, Basildon Hospital and Community League of FriendsMichaels career began in electrical retail, where he managed shops for many years. Unfortunately his wife suffered a serious stroke and he became her carer for several years. It was after his wife passed away that Michael felt the need to give someth...
After numerous volunteering experiences, including with a youth organisation Sarah took on the role of Chair of the League of Friends at Glangwili Hospital. As Chair, her role involves a wide range of tasks: maintaining order during meetings, orga...
Marion Seery, St Oswalds Hospital League of FriendsMarion relocated to Staffordshire ten years ago when her husband got a new job. After bringing up her family, she went back into education to study Travel and Tourism, with the thought she might pursue a career at airport check in or customs. It w...
Julie and husband Phil moved to Bridgnorth just over 4 years ago, and after renovating their home, Julie felt the need to integrate into their new community, and meet people as well as give something back. She began volunteering as a church stewar...
Linda originally became involved with the hospital following plans to close cottage hospitals in the area. Having experienced the care that the hospital provided to her close family members she realised this would be detrimental to the local communit...
Claire Bullimore, Friends of Attend ABIClaire Bullimore shares her experiences of receiving an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and finding a new purpose along with it. She talks about her time volunteering and how it has inspired her to start her own blog and write a book.Unable to return to ...
Chris was introduced to the League of Friends of Uckfield Hospital by an ex-colleague. He was encouraged to take up the role as Treasurer of the League. Chris had been in and out of hospital a few times and wanted to give something back.Chris really ...
Namrata Walia, Aphasia Re-ConnectNamrata 'Nami' Walia originally began her career as an accountant for the NHS.In this interview, Nami shares how the pivot to volunteering and working within a charity has given her great satisfaction and new knowledge about different health cond...
Rachael Talbot, Friends of Acorn LodgeRachael Talbot has been volunteering with Acorn Lodge, working with students and encouraging them to volunteer for the last 10 years.In this interview, she shares how she supports students and some examples of the wonderful things students have been ...
Samira Abu started off volunteering with Friends of Attend as an activities coordinator. She eventually moved on to volunteering with Friends of Aspen Court , where she enjoys engaging with the residents and providing them with social care an...