Royal award for Emma at Northampton General Hospital after training 120 volunteers during pandemic

Amazing Emma Wimpress, 35, from Duston, has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours, for leaping into action when the town's hospital shut its doors to visitors.

In just 10 days, she worked tirelessly to advertise, interview and get 120 new volunteer applicants started on the clearance process and onto hospital wards.

Emma and her team provided training for each new volunteer to ensure that they could safely and confidently provide the best possible levels of care for patients during their time in hospital.

Emma said: "In the NHS, a lot of volunteer services were suspended during the pandemic but I said 'no, we're not doing that, they need our help and we have to go for it'.

"All the volunteers went through all the segments of training, as a member of staff would do. In July other NHS organisations started reviewing what they could do and I was asked to do a couple of talks nationally about what we've done to overcome the barriers.

"The team created such an environment for the volunteers, so they didn't just commit one day they actually wanted to come in every day and they sat and had lunch together."

After they were trained, the volunteer task force delivered letters to patients with COVID-19 from their loved ones, passed on birthday messages, newspapers and baby scans.

But the most significant undertakings for Emma was setting up a patient video call service to connect patients with their relatives when they would otherwise be unable to see each other and facilitating funerals for coronavirus patients.

One volunteer even put herself forward to sing at a funeral Emma was helping to hold for a coronavirus patient.

Emma has grown the volunteer service at Northampton General Hospital from zero to 410 active volunteers in four-and-a-half years, with another 80 in the recruitment process.

"We would not be where we are without the volunteers and definitely without my team," she added. "These people have been some of the most amazing people I've ever met, the ones who stepped up during COVID are an inspiration.

"What I instill in my team is the patients is the reason why we are here and our service is all about them, especially during the scariest times.

"I think other people are more deserving of the award, the front line staff, nurses and everyone like that in my eyes deserve it far more, but it's such an honour and a once in a lifetime achievement. I'm very humbled by it and I think it's a team effort."