We have been asked to re-establish our Patient Visiting Service and expand our Mealtime Companion and Meet and Greet Services. We need some 20 volunteers to deliver these expanding services and to fill vacancies in other services which inevitably occur from time to time.
Last year The Friends of St Cross delivered a record level of volunteer support for the great team at the Hospital of St Cross and have been asked to expand our Patient Visiting Service in readiness for Festive Patient Visiting in December!
Our Patient Visitors are volunteers who offer companionship for patients during their stay in hospital. This can be a very worrying time for patients, they may feel isolated as they are away from home and out of their normal routine, to try and help with this, our volunteers will go onto designated wards and talk to patients who have confirmed that they would like a non-clinical listening ear.
Our latest recruits to the Patient Visiting team are Jess and Buddy. Buddy is a two-year-old Golden Retriever therapy dog, who is incredibly kind, gentle and loves a cuddle. Buddy is working on behalf of a charity called Therapy Dogs Nationwide. The charity organises dog owners to bring their furry friends into schools, hospitals, care homes etc to allow people to fuss and cuddle a dog to help with wellbeing. Buddy had his first day at the hospital on the 3rd March, where he saw lots of patients and NHS staff. Buddy made a great impression and importantly brightened people's day. He has been back since for more cuddles!
The Patient Visting role could be for you, if you
- would like to make a real difference to the lives of people who are in hospital
- Are a good listener and enjoy meeting people
- Are empathetic and of a caring nature and are sensitive to the needs of vulnerable people
Have good verbal and inter-personal communication skills and are able to be patient and sensitive
If you are interested in joining The Friends go to the For Volunteers section of our website where you will find detailed Role Descriptions and Guidance of all our services or simply download our and complete our Application Pack