Stories of volunteers supporting the health service since 1949
106 results
Bridget Foley, AttendBridget started volunteering very early on when she accompanied her Mum to Church, where they arranged flowers, handed out hymn books and mended curtains. As she got older she took on these and other tasks within the church and continued throughout h...
Steve is a Christian minister in the City of York, and his wife, Pauline, is a secondary school teacher. Steve is the Chairman of the Friends of Amarna House, and the cancer charity Candlelighters, and they have both been involved in the community fo...
Jenny Davies, The League of Friends of the Royal Shrewsbury HospitalLiving locally and receiving superb treatment at the Hospital, Jenny felt that volunteering with the League was a good way of saying thank you for the care she received. She serves drinks and snacks to customers in the café, 3 days a week, a role...
Richard Miller, Friends of Horse FairBorn in South Wales, Richard moved to the south of England at a young age and then spent 20 years in and around the south, firstly in Sidcup and then in Lewes, East Sussex. He met his wife in 1984 while she was doing her nurse training, and after acc...
Richard Steventon, The League of Friends of the Royal Shrewsbury HospitalRichard was born in The Potteries and spent the early part of his career working in various parts of the country before finding himself at the Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital in the late 1970’s. He spent 10 years working with the Urology Team,...
Glenys Jones shares her journey with the Prince Philip Hospital’s League of Friends in Llanelli. Inspired by her late friend Jean Evans, she began volunteering around 2002-2003, after retiring from teaching. Glenys started participating in committe...
Retired nurses, Yvonne Frost and Carol Watson, reflect on their years at St. Oswald’s Hospital, sharing memories of their care, community, and the close relationships they built with their patients. After retiring, they continue their involvement t...
Peter and Mary Jones, Friends of Avery PlacePeter and Mary Jones reflect on their lifelong commitment to volunteering, both through their church and in their wider community. Mary, a trained pediatrician and retired general practitioner, and Peter, a minister in the Church of England, have spe...
After a difficult childhood in East London, Pauline has been working and then volunteering with disabled children, and disabled adults all of her life, as a social worker but also in multiple charities, before ending up in BOPH, where she has been fo...
Nevil Williams, Radio BGMNevil is the epitome of a local lad. Born and having always lived locally, he supports the local community with all his heart. Helping wherever he can, he has followed in the footsteps of his stepfather, a local lay preacher, and joined the hospit...
Kevin Madge, Amman Valley Hospital League of FriendsKevin has been an active part of the community since he was 18 years old. He talks about his involvement with the Amman Valley Hospital League of Friends as well as his career full of public service.He is currently the Chair of Carmarthenshire County...
Megan Jolly, The League of Friends of the Deeside Community HospitalFrom an early age Megan helped others and this led to a life long career in nursing. Alongside this she began helping with the League of Friends, an involvement that spans over 50 years....
Sally started volunteering at the League of Friends around 25 years ago, after 10 years of volunteering with adults who wanted to improve their literacy skills. When she started, she was mainly volunteering with the fundraising committee of the hospi...
Pamela Morton OBE, Friends of York HospitalsAt an early age Pam began volunteering to help refugees, at the end of the Second World War. Those values were to stay with her, not only in her career as a teacher but also through the many different volunteering initiatives she enthusiastically emb...
Amanda Berry, Friends of Birchwood GrangeAmanda, a retired nurse and dedicated volunteer, shares her journey from Canada to the UK, her nursing career, and how a life altering stroke in 2020 reshaped her path. After losing her ability to work, Amanda found renewed purpose through volunteeri...
Delyth Evans MBE, League of Friends of Glangwili HospitalContributing to numerous charities since the 1980s, Delyth has been involved in her community for a long time. After some time, she saw an opportunity to volunteer at the League of Friends of Glangwili Hospital, which she took, and became the new Tre...
Arlene Dhalla, Friends of LarchwoodArlene started working at 15 as an accounting assistant, and never really stopped her career until she retired in 1995. She never thought about volunteering before her mother was diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's and had to go into a care home....
Barbara Wren, Brentwood Community Hospital League of FriendsBarbara started her career as a bursar at a local school. During her time there she found herself going above and beyond for the students. She took that work ethic with her to the Highwood Hospital and then to the Brentwood Community Hospital.She use...
Matthew Swan BEM, Friends of LarchwoodMatthew first got involved with Attend over twenty years ago, and also serves as the Treasurer for Friends of Larchwood. He was awarded a BEM in 2020 for his contributions to local charities.Matthew has worked in banking for over 41 years and has thr...
Josephine (Jo) Geary, Business Opportunities for the Physically Handicapped (BOPH)Founder of BOPH with Joan Lythgoe, MBE, Jo was first involved with people with disabilities when her daughter was born paralysed from the waist down and, when pushed by Joan, she joined her in starting a charity that would be a free workshop for phys...