‘We are there to try and put the children at ease’
Barbara Carlisle (68), a retired nurse from Belfast, is a widow with two grown-up children and five grandchildren. Barbara worked at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children for over 40 years. She says:
My nursing career started in 1966 and I worked in a lot of areas in the Royal, spending most of my time in paediatrics and the last 20 years in the children’s cancer unit. I retired in 2009 after about 43 years in nursing and then worked for 3fivetwo Healthcare for six years at Kingsbridge Hospital.
It was my hairdresser who mentioned the Young Witness Service to me, as she thought it would be something I would be interested in. I felt I needed to do some voluntary work and, with this service, I thought I could use my experience working with children and their families.
The training was very thorough and informative, and I think if anyone is thinking of volunteering and is unsure, the training will help them to decide if it is something they could do.
I try to be available to do three or four days a month at the magistrates’ court in Belfast, from 9.30am until about 3pm.
When you are nursing in the children’s cancer unit you are not just caring for the children but also the families — and with this service you are also supporting the children and their parents.
You are there to try and divert the child and family from what is going on. You are only given basic information about the case, which is all you need, and I don’t know until I go into the video room with the child what the details are.
You are conscious that these children have been through an ordeal, and the court case is another ordeal, so we are there to try and put them at their ease and we play games with them.
You get a mixture of children — some are very nervous and some are quite confident.
I do get satisfaction from it and have found it very rewarding. Just to be able to help people and sit alongside them and make things easier for them makes me feel I am doing something worthwhile.
I’ve been in the caring profession all my life and it is lovely when people say thank you and tell you that you have helped them. It has made me feel that I can still be of use and give support to people going through a stressful experience. I am not ready to sit in the corner yet.
I would definitely encourage others to think about it and I have persuaded a few friends to volunteer.
The staff at the NSPCC are fantastic and really make you feel welcome and appreciate everything you do.”