The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) is looking to recruit more volunteers to join its dedicated team supporting patients and staff. 

NNUH has more than 675 volunteers and the recognisable vital members of the team can be easily identified by their red waistcoats.

Departments and teams across NNUH are supported by dedicated and hardworking volunteers who help to improve the care and experience given to patients and relatives.

At NNUH volunteers fulfill a variety of roles, such as meeting and greeting patients as they arrive at hospital, supporting patients and staff in the wards and clinics, gathering patient experience feedback as well as basic admin duties and providing support to patients at mealtimes, . Dementia support volunteers have been introduced to the Older People’s Medicine wards and some specialist roles have also been established such as Reading Aloud, Reminiscence, Breast Feeding Support and Music Therapy.

Volunteer Rita Kofkin said: “I’ve been volunteering at the hospital for 13 years. I’ve volunteered in a number of areas but at the moment I help to escort patients between A&E and the Urgent Care Centre. I volunteer because I have some spare time and enjoy meeting people. I like to make the patients’ experience here better and I like to think I relieve any of their tension and worry.”

Linda Kiff is a settle-in service volunteer and says: “I joined the settle-in service after reading about the new role in the Norwich Evening News. This role fits around my family commitments, I get to meet some lovely people, and it gives me experience of working with older people, using the skills on my CV. The last person I visited called me ‘an angel’. Most patients say they are really grateful that the service is available and have really appreciated it.”

Sally Knights, Voluntary Services Manager at NNUH, said: “We are always extremely grateful to our volunteers who support us so much and we would really like to add to the team. We are looking for kind-hearted individuals who have a few hours a week spare who would like to help around the hospital.”

To register your interest or to find out more information please contact the Volunteering Office by emailing [email protected] or telephone 01603 286060

Notes:
The volunteer service at NNUH has grown from 72 volunteers to 675 in the last 10 years. The service is run by the Voluntary Services Team which co-ordinates all the volunteer activities.

Over 21 million people volunteer in the UK at least once a year and this contributes an estimated £23.9bn to the UK economy.