Celebrating and thanking our volunteers

This year Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June) is 40 years old! We are celebrating our amazing team of volunteers, thanking them for the valuable service they provide and the positive difference they make to our patients and staff.

We have around 150 people ranging from 16 to 90 years of age, who regularly volunteer across our community hospitals in Wiltshire. Throughout the week we are hosting afternoon teas for our volunteers, and celebrating all their achievements.

WHC Volunteer Co-ordinator, Suzanne Bennett said: “I thoroughly enjoy working with our volunteers and Volunteers' Week provides the perfect opportunity to celebrate and recognise them. Volunteering can help in gaining new skills and experience as well as giving a confidence boost. Helping others has been shown to improve volunteers' wellbeing too!”

Here's just some of the feedback from our volunteers:

"I really enjoy my role working with patients – gardening, helping with patient activities and seeing their faces light up and enjoying our companionship. I can also see how it helps the staff too.”

 “I gained valuable experience of the NHS by volunteering – it helped me with my confidence in applying for a job. I am proud to say I now work for the NHS.”

“Volunteering gave me a purpose in life by offering to help others, it helped my wellbeing too by keeping positive and active.”

If you can spare 2-3 hours a week to support your local community, would like to be part of a team and make new friends, please email whc.volunteers@nhs.net or telephone 01985 220779 or 07810 836065.