Open day for new hospital volunteers

Clifton Hospital in St Annes is holding an open day for people with time to spare and learn how they can spend it helping out at the facility

The hospital’s matron, Courtney Bickerdike, said: “We already have a number of fantastic ward volunteers who provide an invaluable service to the benefit of our patients.

“Those volunteers have often said that undertaking such a role has been extremely rewarding, providing them with the opportunity to give back to their local hospital and help others during difficult times.

“We would like to invite members of the public to our open day to find out about the range of opportunities available for people of all ages to volunteer here to provide valuable help to patients staying at the hospital.”

Jane Iceton, volunteers coordinator at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the trust’s strong volunteer workforce was doing a great job, but more were needed to help improve patients’ experience.

She added: “We have more than 400 volunteers at the trust who provide a wide range of services to our patients across our sites.

“We are looking for people who can help make our patients’ stay a more comfortable one. They can do this in a variety of ways including playing games or simply just being someone to talk to or provide refreshments.”

The open day is on Saturday February 22 in the Clifton Hospital Garden Room between 10am and 2pm.

If you are unable to attend but are interested in finding out more about becoming a volunteer at Clifton Hospital, contact the volunteer team on (01253) 657994 or email at [email protected].

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