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Volunteering during the pandemic Sarah Rogers, Volunteer Service Manager, highlights the role of LTHT volunteers in supporting services during the pandemic. “We took the decision to stand down our volunteers six days before the Government announced lockdown measures. It wasn’t easy, but we knew we had to act fast and decisively to protect the safety of our patients, staff, and volunteers. “Within a month, we brought some volunteers back as we realised that we needed their support for vulnerable patients who were heavily affected by social isolation. With visiting suspended, our volunteers stepped in by delivering letters from patients’ loved ones, distributing ipads and ipods to the wards so patients could have video calls with their friends and family, and setting up a drive though property collection service for bereaved families. They also helped Leeds Cares to distribute donated items to staff to help boost their health and wellbeing. “We set up Volunteering Hubs at two of our hospitals to help us check in with volunteers frequently so they could share concerns and feedback. The hubs also helped us to centrally coordinate activities for volunteers, and they could come back after finishing a task and take a break. We kept our numbers low, maintaining a low footfall around the hospitals and avoiding clinical areas. We took advice from our Infection
Prevention Team and ensured PPE was available. Volunteers were encouraged to access the staff psychological support service if they needed it, and they also had access to Covid-19 testing thankfully they all remained healthy whilst volunteering. “There is one activity that I hope will continue - volunteers writing cards for bereaved families who have lost a loved one since March. Inside the card, volunteers share their condolences with family members, invite them to contact our specialist bereavement nurse, and provide details of where they can get support and counselling if needed. We’ve received lots of positive feedback for this initiative and families felt grateful that someone had written to show them kindness at this difficult time in their life. “In total, over four months, our 38 volunteers gave 1590 hours which has made a real difference to patients, staff and visitors. We’ve also fast tracked our recruitment process by doing ID and DBS checks online. Before the pandemic, on average it would take 108 days for volunteers to start, whereas now, it only takes 17 days. That’s a huge difference! “1,900 letters have been delivered by volunteers and more than 700 cards have been sent to deceased patients’ families. It’s great to be able to demonstrate the impact of volunteer led initiatives and design and organise
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projects successfully and sustainably. “Before the pandemic, I felt I was very distant to our volunteers as the location of our office meant I was physically removed and had little connection with them. The pandemic has allowed me to see just how important volunteering is and the big part it plays in volunteers’ lives. It also offers an important way for volunteers to show their commitment to the local community. “It would be wrong to say that the experience has been easy. From the beginning, not only I, but the whole volunteering team felt very anxious and for a while we were in limbo. The months ahead won’t be rosy with the addition of winter pressures, but I’m confident that with all the hard work that we are doing, we will be able to weather the storm. More than ever I am enjoying my job and the new challenges, and I feel satisfied that I have done my best and feel very lucky to support our volunteers.”
