Stories of volunteers supporting the health service since 1949
33 results
Valerie Semeria, Friends of Attend ABI Valerie Semeria, 30, is the Chair of Friends of Attend ABI. She grew up volunteering in her church and local homeless shelters, and eventually pursued the field as a career path after she moved to London in 2016. She then started volunteering with At...
June Whitaker, The League of Friends of the Shrewsbury and Telford HospitalBeing part of the local community, supporting charities that help people who live round and about are all part of the values that June has lived her life by. For over 50 years, June has been involved in the League of Friends (and many othe...
Marigold Cleveley, Friends of The Royal London Hospital for Integrated MedicinePersonal convictions, and those of her friends, meant that Marigold first found herself volunteering nearly 50 years to support Homeopathic medicine, and those in the community wanting to access such services. Throwing herself into the commu...
Sian Gabari, Ealing Hospital League of FriendsInitially Sian was introduced to the Friends while at school, as a way of considering a career in the NHS. While following a different career path, Sian has continued to volunteer for the Friends throughout the remainder of school, university, and no...
Lorna Citron, Friends of UCLHStarting work at UCH in 1945, and being continuously involved with the hospital since then, Lorna clearly has a deep-rooted love of the hospital and the community it serves. Her administrative skills were seized upon to support the developing ro...
Gillian Vaughan Hudson MBBS FRCP, League of Friends of Middlesex Hospital & Friends of University College London Hospital (UCLH)Following a full career in the NHS in central London, as retirement approaches, the League of Friends at the Middlesex sought Gillian out. Her role required great diplomacy as it involved the creation of the new shadow board for the Friends merging w...
Maggie Linford, Friends of St Mary’sMaggie had a life of supporting people through her careers as a social worker and an occupational therapist. Once retired, she continued to make a difference in her community through volunteering. When she joined the Friends of St Mary’...
Homeopathy, its values, and lifestyle have always been important to Sato. It's impacted not only her lifestyle, but also her career choices and now her volunteering. Her passion for complementary medicine is as infectious, as her knowledge abou...
Sue Rivers, Friends of St Mary’sAs the wife of a hospital consultant, Sue almost had no choice but to get involved with the Friends. Becoming Chairman near the turn of the decade, she has thoroughly involved herself in all aspects from fundraising to helping out in the café. She ...
Jean Howard, Friends of Cedar House Jean has volunteered for over 50 years. The organisations she has got involved with have mirrored the life-cycle of her family life, be it her children’s school or her mother’s care home. Her consistent ambition has been to add value to the l...
Irene Thompson, Friends of Barking HospitalIrene first began volunteering at Barking Hospital in 1964, and since then it has been part of the everyday life for her and her family. Irene’s biggest contribution was as the organiser of the hospital fete, which was well known in the Barking c...
Ian McDowell, Guild Of St BartholomewHospital chaplaincy, as a local vicar, first brought Ian into the world of hospital volunteering. This interest developed, including becoming a hospital voluntary services manager and became involved in a policy group in Whitehall. Initially involve...
Ann Wickham, Guild of St BartholomewWhen Ann’s husband became a doctor at Barts, it was part of the natural order that she become a member of the Guild. This was in the mid 1960’s and she has been involved constantly since then. While currently the President, over the years Ann ha...