Over 100 volunteers step up to help at Northampton General Hospital in just three days

"We are so grateful for the support of our dedicated volunteering team and their help at this current time is so appreciated by staff."
Northampton General Hospital has had more than 100 applications to become a volunteer in just three days. PIcture by NGH NHS Trust.Northampton General Hospital has had more than 100 applications to become a volunteer in just three days. PIcture by NGH NHS Trust.
Northampton General Hospital has had more than 100 applications to become a volunteer in just three days. PIcture by NGH NHS Trust.

Even before the Government announced it wanted "an army of volunteers" to help combat the coronavirus outbreak on Tuesday (March 24), Northampton was ready to do its bit.

Northampton General Hospital sent out an appeal for volunteers last Saturday (March 21) - and they had a huge response.

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Amidst the current health crisis, the time a volunteer puts in can directly free a nurse or a healthcare assistant to help someone else.

So when the hospital asked if anyone in Northampton had time to help, they were met with over 100 applications in less than three days.

Emma Wimpreess, head of volunteer services, said: “Over the past few days we’ve had an overwhelming response to our volunteering advert and we have had over 100 applications

"We are so grateful for the support of our dedicated volunteering team and their help at this current time is so appreciated by staff.

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“We know this is a time when people are interested in helping their local hospitals and we are still accepting applications for these roles. It’s fantastic to see the support for Northampton General and we are very grateful to anyone choosing to give their time to us”.

Many applicants could be put onto NGH Volunteer's existing "ward buddying" scheme to help with making day to day tasks a bit easier - from admin tasks to delivering medication to sitting with dementia patients during the day.

Emma said: “We are always so impressed and thankful for the support we get from our community. The support from our volunteers means that our teams can provide the best possible care for patients."

It comes as health secretary Matt Hancock launched a Government appeal on Tuesday for 250,000 volunteers across the country, who would support some 1.5m vulnerable residents unable to leave their home during the pandemic.

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So far, 170,000 have already signed up to the "volunteer responders" scheme across the UK - with tasks including collecting shopping and medication, collecting patients from hospital and helping them settle back at home, and transporting medication, equipment and supplies between NHS sites.

Anyone interested in signing up for the volunteer responders can find more information at goodsamapp.org/nhs.

Anyone interested in applying for one of the limited spaces remaining on the NGH volunteers team, email [email protected] for more information.