Hospital volunteers clock up more than 1,000 years of support
Hospital volunteers across Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust were recently celebrated for giving over 1,000 years of service and dedication to patients and staff.
Long service medals were handed out to those that had given their time to helping Broomfield, Braintree, Basildon and Southend hospitals over the years at a series of ‘thank you’ events.
One of those celebrating the longest was Alan Newman, a Basildon Hospital Radio volunteer, who has spent 48 years broadcasting. He joined the year after Basildon Hospital opened in 1973 and received his award and thanks from the Trust’s Acting Chief Executive, Hannah Coffey.
In common with many hospital radio volunteers, Alan, a retired IT consultant from Billericay, continued to provide a service right through Covid, broadcasting from his studio at home. He said: “You hope you are doing something useful – the feedback we get from patients is that we are a friendly voice at a time in their lives where they may be feeling a bit vulnerable.”
Alan was one of around 300 volunteers who were treated to a festive afternoon tea as a small way of saying thank you. The events – held at the Saxon Hall in Southend, the Holiday Inn in Basildon and the Chelmsford City Racecourse – were the first face-to-face events in almost three years.
All three events were attended by hospital bosses, including the Trust’s Chairman Nigel Beverley, Acting Chief Executive Hannah Coffey and Deputy Chairman Alan Tobias.
Alan told Southend Hospital volunteers: “We were last at Saxon Hall on a sunny day in June 2019. Little did we know…but it’s marvellous to see so many familiar faces.”
Celebrating 10 years of volunteering was Davina Randall, from Westcliff, who was one of the first volunteers to help when Southend Hospital opened its first charity shop in Westcliff in 2012.
Davina, who also used to volunteer at the blood clinic at Southend Hospital said of her charity shop role: “I absolutely love it, I love who I work with and I love chatting to people who come in, some of them are very lonely.”
Talking to people and being helpful are the primary motivators for another volunteer, Wilma Smart, from Chelmsford, who celebrated 21 years of volunteering at Broomfield Hospital’s helpdesk in the main outpatients’ area. She helps there every Monday morning and said: “I get a great deal of satisfaction from this,” the grandmother-of-three and retired bank clerk from explains. “It’s lovely to speak to people, even if they are not in the best of spirits.”
Lucy Thomas-Clayton, Director of Fundraising said: “It was lovely to see so many of our volunteers in person after such a long gap and to recognise the huge contribution they make to improving the lives of our patients.
“As we look 2023, we hope to expand our volunteer service to support staff in A&E and on the wards.”
Information about volunteering at our hospitals can be found at www.mse.nhs.uk/get-involved.