Sheffield Northern General hospital WRVS volunteer service

Thursday, 03 May 2012

The Sheffield on-ward volunteer service is part of WRVS’ personalised package of support available to any older person staying in hospital. 

The pilot scheme, launched on 7^th November 2011 (to tie in with the Department of Health’s national campaign on dementia early diagnosis) started out on just one ward, a ward for geriatric and orthopaedic patients, a lot of whom had memory problems and/or confusion after a trip or fall.

The specialist trained volunteers offer that little bit of extra care, spending time with the patients, getting to know the person, making their experience in hospital a little bit more pleasant. They are able to provide support to help improve the quality of life for both the patient and in some cases, the carer. For example through :-

Information and signposting to other organisations and agencies. 

On a practical level, personal support is also provided, such as:-  

All the volunteers receive specialist training to enable them to support older patients with dementia in a positive, practical and appropriate way, using The Alzheimer’s Society guidelines. Of course the service needs all sorts of things to work as well as it does, but one of the most important is the volunteers. There has never been such a diverse range of volunteers working within one project before, from young students who are looking to gain work experience, to middle aged people looking to give back. There are also older people who may have been with WRVS for some time and have wanted to have a change. The training and support offered is outstanding and gives the volunteers much satisfaction. 

Are you interested in volunteering for WRVS? Do you or an older person you know need a little extra help whilst in hospital?

If so, please visit wrvs.org.uk, cllck here to find us on facebook, or  follow us on twitter 

Claire Molinari (The local service coordinator) can be contacted directly on 01142 611709 or email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.