Norfolk and Suffolk mental health trust ready to welcome back volunteers
Norfolk and Suffolk’s mental health trust has relaunched its volunteer programme with a new recruitment and training process.
Volunteering was halted within the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) during Covid lockdowns, but the team has used the time to develop the system and is now ready to welcome volunteers back.
Volunteer co-ordinator Sarah Briggs said: “Volunteers are important at NSFT as they help enrich the experiences of our services.
“They also help our services run smoothly and allow our staff to spend their time focusing on delivering the best support for our service users, helping us to build greater connections and reach those people we may not have been able to before.”
She said it had taken a long time to get back on track since the pandemic.
“The focus has been on ensuring the volunteers recruitment process and training is as robust as possible,” Ms Briggs added.
“As a trust, we need to ensure that anyone who has contact with our services user are appropriately recruited, trained and supported. We have some volunteers in the trust, but are ready to welcome more to help support the services that we provide.”
Roles include supporting groups in the community or activities on wards which encourage patients to take part.
There are opportunities for gardeners and roles for people with personal experience of mental health problems, either as a patient or carer.
Ms Briggs said: “In particular, the perinatal team in Suffolk is looking for a dad who supported a partner during pregnancy for a new peer support group and there are roles helping staff assessing ward environments.”
The trust is also looking for people with a passion for volunteering who were kind, compassionate and willing to learn.
“People don’t always have to have an in-depth knowledge of mental health or the NHS, they can learn, but communication skills are important as you will spend a lot of time talking to people from different backgrounds who have varying experiences in the NHS,” Ms Briggs added.
On potential benefits for volunteers, she said: “It can give people confidence and skills to take on new opportunities. There’s the chance to make friends, help with loneliness and improve health and wellbeing.
“Volunteering can give a chance to try something new, even providing a stepping stone to a new career.”
Deputy chief executive and chief people officer Cath Byford welcome the refreshed volunteer programme.
“Volunteering is beneficial both for us as an organisation and for the individuals involved,” she said.
“We can share expertise and experience to make NSFT a safer, kind and better environment for patients, families, carers and staff.”
