“Lighting up people’s lives”: Celebrating Volunteers Week at NUH | Latest news

Imagine dedicating your time for free to help people going through worrying or stressful times while at hospital. At Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), we have more than 730 volunteers who do just that.

This Volunteers Week (2 – 8 June) we celebrate our volunteers and the huge positive difference they make to our Trust. You will find a volunteer in most departments, on corridors and wards across our hospitals, sporting an orange high visibility vest with the words ‘here to help’ emblazoned across them.

We have volunteers in research, front of house, clinics, hospital radio, catering, and many other places. We even have volunteers who bring in their furry volunteers, also known as therapy dogs. And all together, every week, our volunteers offer 1,000 hours of volunteering.

Sue Whibley, a meet and greet volunteer has been volunteering for more than five years. Whether it’s offering directions, a listening ear, or simply a smile, Sue loves helping people feel supported during what can be a stressful time. “It makes me feel valued that I am able to help people,” she says.

Sue was also nominated for a BBC Radio Nottingham Make a Difference Volunteer of the Year Award in 2024, which made her feel “very humbled”.

Paul Shephard, a research volunteer (alongside being a meet and greet volunteer) talked of his enjoyment of working with trainee doctors: “It’s a great thing to be a part of, as you are helping future generations of doctors be prepared with future patient scenarios as part of their training, it is very rewarding.”

Lesley Hopkins has been bringing in her therapy dog, Rupert, a standard poodle to the children’s oncology ward at NUH for just under a year. Lesley says, “All of the staff at NUH offer such a good service, if I can add to it, then every little bit helps especially in a hospital setting.”

With a gentle nudge of his nose, Rupert the poodle also offered his input on volunteering at NUH, confirming he also loves his role of bringing happiness to patients.

As part of recognising our volunteers this week, we held a volunteers’ long service afternoon tea to celebrate those who have dedicated their time for five years or more, totalling more than 495 years.

Rosemary Begley, who has achieved 30 years voluntary service, was at the service. She became a volunteer soon after her husband passed away as she needed to do something different, and she saw an advert for volunteering in the WRVS cafe in the entrance of the QMC.

Rosemary likes ‘being useful’ and making visits to hospital slightly less overbearing for patients and visitors.

Also, in attendance was someone who many may recognise from voice alone from 25 years of volunteering for Nottingham Hospitals Radio (NHR), Rajiv Hassan.

“A little thing like a hospital radio can affect people in a big way” says Rajiv, “During Covid, we became a communication bridge between families and patients. That’s when you realise how powerful this work can be”.

When asked how he felt about volunteering a quarter of a century to NUH, Rajiv said “How can I summarise 25 years? It’s been a huge chunk of my life – from sports coverage, to fundraising, programming to ward visits. I’ve loved every bit of it.”

Rajiv offers his advice to anyone considering volunteering “If you like lighting up people’s lives, then go for it!”

Kerry Harper, Volunteers Service Manager, said “Our volunteers come to the trust to offer their service without reward and recognition. Volunteering plays a significant role within NUH, and we are extremely fortunate to have such a high volume of committed volunteers and volunteer groups.”

Find out more about the volunteering opportunities at NUH on our website