Volunteers from across our trust have been recognised for their dedication with the presentation of long service awards at events held at both Conquest Hospital and Eastbourne DGH.
The volunteers we have recognised this year have provided up to 30 years of committed service at our hospitals. They represented the many areas where our volunteers give their time including, helping on wards, providing admin support, assisting the work of the Cardiac Rehab teams, providing a warm welcome to visitors front of house as ‘Meet and Greeters’, assisting the ‘Infant Feeding Peer Support’ programme, visiting patients in a chaplaincy capacity and supporting the work of the trust’s volunteering partners, the Friends charities and Hospital Radio. Each volunteer role enhances the patient experience in whatever capacity it features in.
The Trust’s Voluntary Services team who proudly support the volunteers said: “These annual events afford the trust and our team the opportunity to celebrate and recognise the value volunteers bring across our sites. It is extremely important to recognise this community of support this team give every day to our hospitals, our staff, and our patients.”
Volunteers shared their own appreciation in being recognised. Ellie Pottinger, Meet and Greet Volunteer at Conquest Hospital said: “Being recognised for my time spent volunteering is wonderful although coming in to volunteer is reward enough really – I always come away from each shift feeling I’ve played my part in supporting patients and visitors.”
Bob Ayers, Admin Support at Bexhill Hospital said: “It’s lovely to be recognised officially for our time. As volunteers, we get quite a bit of satisfaction from contributing our little bit to the community, but we do it principally because we enjoy it. We’re always appreciated and made to feel we are members of the bigger ESHT team. I had to be talked into volunteering at the beginning but that was 10 years ago, and I am still loving it!”
Volunteers are an integral part of our trust and the wider NHS nationally. Largely unsung, they are people who whole-heartedly want to make a difference in whatever way they can to assist in making a difference to the patient experience and alleviating some of the stresses the hospital community in general faces on a day-to-day basis.
The volunteers were presented with their awards by Steve Aumayer, Deputy Chief Executive and Jenny Darwood, Deputy Director of People. Also, in attendance to acknowledge the volunteers’ work were Greig Woodfield, Director of Resourcing and Laura Ransom, TWS and Voluntary Services Manager.
We are honoured to have this committed and amazing team of over 400 people within our organisation.