Volunteers give more than 28,000 hours to support Mid Cheshire Hospitals
Mid Cheshire Hospitals' volunteers have contributed over 28,000 hours to support staff and patients in the past year.
The local NHS Trust has this week released the figures as part of celebrations to mark National Volunteers' Week, which runs from 2 to 8 June.
Mid Cheshire Hospitals has 223 volunteers who cover a range of roles including pharmacy runners, hand holders, and meet and greeters.
There are also volunteers in the wards, A&E, the eye care centre, outpatients, veterans support, admin, gardening and more.
Further volunteering data from Mid Cheshire Hospitals shows the contribution these colleagues make to the Trust in a year:
- Volunteers made more than 110,000 hot drinks for patients;
- The pharmacy runner and meet and greet volunteers walked over 14.4 million steps in total;
- Pharmacy runner volunteers covered about 4.4 million steps and transported over 10,600 medications to hospital wards;
- Meet and greet volunteers gave out about 90,000 directions, walked over 10 million steps, and pushed more than 10,000 patients in wheelchairs;
- Hand-holding volunteers supported 1,500 patients during eye operations;
- Eye care centre volunteers handled around 20,000 appointment letters.
Former Royal Air Force recruit Joanne Leese is Mid Cheshire Hospitals' Volunteer Veterans Lead and helps to support the Trust's commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant.
For the past year she has worked with staff who are veterans, as well as other colleagues across areas including portering, HR and community services, to support patients who are serving, veterans, reservists, or members of the wider Armed Forces community.
Joanne, who served in the RAF from 1986 to 1999, said: "I'm really passionate about my volunteering work and the support we can give patients and staff who have links to the Armed Forces.
"If patients or friends and family make us aware of somebody's service, we can arrange to see them if needed on the ward and check if there's anything we can do to support them.
"My role is really rewarding because we get to meet and spend time with wonderful, fascinating people and hopefully make a difference for them during what can be a difficult time.
"I'd encourage anyone with links to the Armed Forces community to make sure they tell staff about it – we call it 'say you've served'. It's really important that people do this because it can help us with things such as signposting them to the relevant veterans' organisations."
In another part of Volunteer Services, Nia visits Leighton Hospital with her boxer dog Maggie as part of the Trust's work with Pets As Therapy.
They joined Mid Cheshire Hospitals in October 2024 after a successful recruitment campaign.
Therapy pets visit wards to support patients' wellbeing and mental health, offering them the chance to stroke the dogs and chat to their owners.
Nia takes Maggie to see patients on the Child and Adolescent Unit, as well as those undergoing rehabilitation on Ward 21b.
She said: "We love volunteering because we enjoy giving back to the community and spending time with new people.
"You can see people light up when they see Maggie coming onto the ward. Patients really enjoy meeting her and it's amazing to see the positive difference she can make for them. Everybody wants to see her, give her a stroke and just make a fuss of her and she definitely enjoys being the centre of attention."
During National Volunteers' Week, Mid Cheshire Hospitals is releasing personal videos filmed by volunteers on its Facebook and Instagram pages - @MidCheshireNHS
Today (Wednesday, 4 June) the Trust has held an annual Volunteer Services Celebration, which included an awards ceremony.
Jo Newbrook, Voluntary Services Manager at Mid Cheshire Hospitals, said: "Our volunteers are an incredible bunch who offer their own time to enhance patient care by giving practical help and support to our patients, visitors and staff.
"People become volunteers for so many different reasons and the benefits can be huge. You'll meet new people and make a really positive contribution to your local community.
"Volunteering can also be a fantastic way to gain confidence, enhance your CV or gather the experience and knowledge you need for future careers, education or training. Some of our volunteers progress to employment within the Trust itself, which is a huge plus for us."
Mid Cheshire Hospitals says that volunteering is a long-term commitment and asks people to give a minimum of two to three hours per week for at least six months.
The Trust provides induction training including eLearning and supported first shifts. For more information, visit https://www.mcht.nhs.uk/volunteer
People who are interested in volunteering at Mid Cheshire Hospitals should email [email protected], telling the team why they would like to volunteer for the Trust. Alternatively, call 01270 612311.
National statistics
According to new data released by NHS England to mark Volunteers' Week, volunteers nationally have contributed over six million hours to support NHS staff and patients in the past year.
The data, which was collated nationally for the first time, also shows that:
- a total of 71,828 people volunteered nationally in the NHS in the past year
- they donated 6.4 million hours of their time.
Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said: "This Volunteers' Week, we want to say a huge thank you to every one of our 70,000 volunteers. Volunteers bring something extra special that cannot be quantified.
"Volunteers' Week offers us a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the power of volunteering for the NHS, no matter what role they do and how much time they are able to give to it.
"There are so many different types of roles to get involved with, and we are so grateful to everyone who shares their free time to help others. Volunteering not only supports the health of communities and makes a difference, but also personally benefits volunteers by providing opportunities to learn new skills, meet new people, and experience the camaraderie of life in busy, dynamic NHS trusts. We encourage anyone interested in volunteering in the NHS to visit the NHS volunteering website to find out more about opportunities near them."
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