Our volunteers are making the difference
More than 21 million people volunteer in the UK at least once a year, which contributes an estimated £23.9bn to the economy. They can make a big difference to people’s lives, from improving the environment in which they live to making them feel less isola
George Drummond, volunteer with mental health services for older people (MHSOP) “I decided to volunteer primarily because my wife, Elaine, was a patient on East 18 in University Hospital Llandough for seven months before she died.
“The ward manager and refocusing nurse were planning on building a reminiscence room during that time, so I volunteered to help decorate and find pieces for the room, called “The Cwtch”.
“Since then other wards got to hear about The Cwtch and from there it has grown into five rooms.
“On East 18, we have 1950s-style living rooms where volunteers and staff can take patients, particularly if they get agitated.
“It seems to calm them down that they’re in what is much more like a domestic location.
“The room on East 10 is based around the idea of a seaside cafe.
“Relatives can come in, bring their family members in with them and it makes it feel like a day out.
“It’s so much more so than just sitting in the ward or in the patient’s own room.
“The best bit about volunteering for this project, without a doubt, is watching the relatives’ and patients’ reactions when they see a reminiscence room for the first time.
“Everyone should come and try volunteering and just watch the reaction that you get from the staff and patients.
“There was a member of staff on East 18. When she walked into the room she said, ‘this looks just like my grandma’s sitting room’ and then burst into tears.
“You can’t put a price on that sort of reaction.
“The whole experience is rewarding. Patients who are quite frequently not in the happiest of places are brought into either a cafe environment or a domestic lounge type of environment and it calms them down.
“It gives them a little bit of normality at a time in their lives when things aren’t exactly going well.” Maria Edwards, meet and greet volunteer “I came to Llandough as one of the first volunteers and started with the meet and greet service. “I’ve been doing this for four years now. I also go up on to the wards, chat to patients and help out in a pulmonary clinic.
“Meet and greet volunteers help direct patients when they come into hospital and they’re not really sure about where they are going. “Patients are usually pretty stressed when they arrive and it’s about making them feel a little less worried about things, telling them or showing them where to go and listening to them if they want to chat and calming them down.
“I decided to volunteer because I retired from work and within a very short time I found that I was really bored and felt I should try to give something back.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in hospital as a patient over the years and the meet and greet role wasn’t too strenuous.
“The best bit about volunteering is meeting people, all sorts of people.
“You get to know a lot of the patients who come in regularly and they look out for you.
“You can see it as they come through the door and that gives me a lovely feeling that you’ve helped.
“Volunteering grounds you. It makes you aware of what people have to put up with and how poorly some people are with very little help.
“I have some lovely memories of patients I’ve helped.” April Bailes and Mark Williams, Mental Health Matters April and Mark both work for an organisation called Mental Health Matters, which is based in Bridgend.
They are both activities organisers at the University Hospital of Wales.
Their role is to make sure patients are cared for and they get the right help that is needed for them.
They organise activities around the patients’ needs.
April said: “I’ve done a lot of charity work over the years but this is my first time based on the wards and it has been really successful.
“We are both activities organisers. It’s all about talking to patients, and just relieving the boredom and loneliness on a ward.
“Some people are in here for months and they haven’t even been outside; we are able to take them outside to get some fresh air.
“It’s a friendly ward, the staff are great, we have a laugh, which puts the patients at ease.
“We work from 11am-6pm so we catch both mealtimes. We realise that eating together is a big thing for patients.
“If they are sat in a big room on their own eating, there is just no socialisation and stimulus.
“We get them around the table to eat with other people and we’ve found that most people eat better as they are eating with someone else.”
Mark said: “We spend time with patients, having conversations with them, and in many cases, after a psychiatric assessment, we find out they’re depressed.
“Things like that could be missed so I think it’s really important.
“We both look at counselling and all forms of mental health and early dementia.
“With this job, you’ve got to love it, otherwise time will go really slowly.
“So, during the time we’ve got here, we make sure that we put 100% effort in.
“Also, after an activity, we find patients engage better with one another so when they go back to their beds they actually go to talk to someone across the room and that’s a physical help as well as being good for their mental health.
“We take a person-centred approach. We ask them what they want to do rather than what we want them to do and that works.
“You’ve got to have a sense of humour as well and some personality. I’d like to think that we bring that to the team.
“Voluntary work is crucial, it teaches you a lot.
“It gives you confidence and gives you an idea of what area of employment you want to go into and build a career than just getting a qualification.”