The Health Sciences Library at the Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust is a good example of how people can enjoy the role of “volunteer” whatever their age. June is traditionally the month when the work of the volunteers in the UK is recognised and the Trust likes to highlight their valuable contribution to the running of both hospitals – and encourage other people to considering becoming a volunteer.

Said Sandy Komiliades, assistant library and knowledge services manager at the Health Sciences Library,  Education Centre, St. Peter’s Hospital: “In the Health Sciences Library here at Ashford and St Peter's NHS Trust we currently have 11 volunteers working with us on a regular basis. Our youngest ever volunteer was only 22 when she started, and has since left us to become a healthcare assistant here at St Peter's. Our oldest was a lovely gentleman in his late eighties who soon became a whiz on the photocopier.

“We have one efficient and loyal volunteer, Hilda, who has been with us over 10 years and comes in regularly for two sessions a week, and another, Peter, who started in 1993 and is still here every Wednesday morning and deals with all our new books. The volunteers help us in all kinds of different ways - whenever possible we try and match the person to the kind of tasks they seem to enjoy the most and to give each one of them a varied list of jobs. Most of them spend some time doing office-type tasks: sorting the post; filing; faxing; photocopying; checking booklists; sending out letters, and some general shelving and book tidying, but some have more specialist jobs such as new book processing or emailing and scanning.

“Everyone seems to like working at the library counter - meeting library users; enrolling new members; issuing and returning books; answering the phone, and helping with all kinds of different queries from the simple "Where are the books on asthma?" to the more complex "How can I access Medline and other medical databases?", but library staff are always available to guide and encourage them. They all enjoy this interaction with the diverse range of people who use the library - from students; doctors; nurses; allied health professionals and paramedics, through to hospital directors.                 

“ We think they find their time in the library interesting and fulfilling, as well as enjoyable as a social time - we always provide tea and biscuits when needed and time for a chat about what's going on in their lives.

“ All our volunteers are an incredibly valuable and valued part of the library team and contribute immeasurably to the service we offer, and we are forever grateful and appreciative that they are willing to give us so much of  their precious time.”

Hilda Allen and her husband returned from overseas when he retired in 1995.  She was also nearing retirement age and didn’t want to start a new job and didn’t want to just stay at home. She knew hospitals were very needy of volunteers and through the hospital’s volunteer’s manager she found her niche in the health sciences library.

Said Hilda, of Horsell: “In the last 10 years the library has grown and developed a great deal and I feel I have grown with it.  I try to put my hand to anything I am asked to do.  It’s fun, and there is no responsibility.  People are nice and easy to get on with, and the library can be very busy, which is very good.  It ‘s a very satisfying job and I do she feel I am doing something worthwhile.”

Hilda would advise others in a similar position to consider volunteering at a hospital. 

She said: “As a volunteer you get to meet different people and I enjoy being out and about.  The annual volunteers party is also very enjoyable and it’s an opportunity to meet other volunteers from different areas in the hospital and from all walks of life.”

Said the Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals volunteer’s manager Karen Marsden: “We have more than 500 volunteers working in our hospitals, and we cannot thank them enough for all that they do.  Our volunteers have a huge variety of skills and talents that are put to good use every single day of the year – and some evenings too!  Some work behind the scenes in offices and others enjoy the patient contact with ward work or reception duties – the scope for them is enormous.  There are very few aspects of hospital life that do not benefit from the support of a volunteer.  The WRVS, the Red Cross, Hospital Radio Wey and the two Leagues of Friends at Ashford and St. Peter’s are the backbone of our volunteering service and at this special time of year we like to thank them all publicly for their unstinting support.”

To find out more about volunteering at the Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust readers can call Karen Marsden on either: 01784 884227 or: 01932 723239.