A St Richard's Hospital volunteer on why the role 'means a lot' and how it requires 'a little humility' | Vicky Meets

​The King’s ‘The Big Help Out’ initiative is encouraging people to volunteer on the bank holiday Monday after his coronation, but you are already a step ahead. Will you tell me more? Once a week I do an early morning three-hour shift on the hospital’s emergency floor.I help the housekeeping team. They supply all the meals to patients, so I’m supporting people who are working really hard and often under difficult circumstances.

​It’s a varied role; I respond to whatever the team wants from me. I might be taking food to the patients, helping make breakfasts or just seeing what the patients need. It’s a busy ward, so they are always glad of an extra pair of hands. I thought I might be too old to be considered as a volunteer, but the hospital welcomes volunteers from aged 16 to 90.

How long have you been volunteering on the emergency floor? I have been doing it for just over 12 months now. Many years ago I was a medical social worker here, so I was familiar with the place and knew roughly what goes on and what the protocols are.

The housekeepers are wonderful people and the nurses are always chirpy. It’s very social and volunteers are welcomed and valued. It really works for me – volunteering here means a lot to me.

What advice would you give aspiring hospital volunteers? You have to volunteer to do something that you are comfortable in and that you are well received in. You need to do something that meets your needs and gives you something out of it. This stretches me to do something quite manual in a way, but that is directly related to patients and staff.

There is a lot of feedback and I like that. You need to know what you can commit in terms of time; otherwise you end up letting yourself and other people down. You also need to have a little humility; you’re going to be a small cog in a big organisation. But you learn new skills too, and sometimes discover that you had skills you didn’t know that you had. Some people volunteer because, like me, they might have a medical background and feel that they can be useful.

Others may have had a relative looked after here and so they volunteer as a way of giving something back. Younger people might come to gain relevant work experience. If you have time to make a regular commitment then there is almost certainly something you can do here.People are matched by their skills and their needs.

There is, understandably, a detailed checks process, but there are around 300 volunteers across about 50 different roles.

Where can we find more information about volunteering at the hospital? There is a lot of information on the website. Please visit uhsussex.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/volunteer

For more information about The Big Help Out, visit thebighelpout.org.uk

See also – A West Sussex author and illustrator on writing her first children’s book and why comparison can be the ‘thief of joy’ | Vicky Meets

A Sussex author of a guide to motherhood on advice to mothers of young children and the challenges mothers face | Vicky Meets

A director of Chichester Chamber of Commerce on looking to develop a Bognor Chapter of businesses | Vicky Meets