NNUH honours hundreds of volunteers during Volunteers Week

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) will be celebrating the valuable contribution of its 675 volunteers from 1st – 12th June as part of Volunteer’s Week.

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

During Volunteers Week, NNUH will be inviting local businesses and partner agencies to hold corporate volunteering days to further extend the hospital’s Woodland Walk. The Woodland Walk was created by previous volunteers from the hospital and its partners. The walk follows a path through the trees around two thirds of the circumference of the 64 acre site. It provides a rural walk for staff and visitors, with insect hotels to encourage wildlife.

There will be a display stand at NNUH all week with information for anyone interested in volunteering to support the Trust. The Voluntary Services team will also be holding a thank you party for all existing volunteers with tea, coffee and cake, from 10am until 1pm on 9th June.

Sally Knights, Voluntary Services Manager at NNUH, said: “We are always extremely grateful to our volunteers who support us so much, but volunteers week is an annual occasion to celebrate and honour the invaluable contribution they make to our hospitals and most importantly our patients. It’s also a great opportunity to show how anyone can volunteer and we’re thrilled that we have some local companies spending time with us to expand our Woodland Walk which will create a lovely peaceful area for staff and visitors who would like some fresh air away from the hospital environment.”

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 Unit. 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 local paper. 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.”

Notes to editors:

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.

At NNUH volunteers fulfil a variety of roles, such as meeting and greeting patients as they arrive at hospital, supporting patients and staff in the wards and clinics, 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.