Transcript July 2014 Happy National Volunteers Week!

5
July 2014
In June we celebrated the 30th annual volunteers week by sending thank you cards to all our volunteers, holding a raffle that took place in the
conservatory raising money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital and our first ever Pets as Therapy trial. We also had a volunteer of the day for
everyday of the week and their stories are below. A big thank you to you all for supporting Birmingham Children's Hospital over the last year.
Pets as Therapy Visit
Alfie (pictured below)
made the trip up to Heart
Outpatients with his
Grandmother and his
Nurse from PAU
especially to see the dogs.
During volunteers week we were treated to a trial visit from two
Pets as Therapy volunteers (Rachel and James) together with their
therapy dogs, Cassie and Candy.
They spent two hours in a busy clinic in Heart Outpatients and saw
32 families.
Lots of patients aged between 6 months to 13 years old all wanted
to get involved and say hello to the dogs.
The feedback was very positive from patients, parents and the staff
in Heart Outpatients.
Quotes from patients included “I feel more chilled than usual visits”
“I like to stroke the dog because I have one at home” and “It feels
nice and relaxing”
Quotes from Parents included “it distracts children and enables
parents to spend quality time in a consultation” “It’s such a good
idea, it’s stimulating for children and brings them joy” “It’s fantastic,
relieves pressure while you wait” and “It calms children down and
helps parents to relax”
Hopefully we will be seeing more of Candy and Cassie very soon!
Sheila and Norman Swan
Sheila and Norman who both retired in 1997 have been
volunteering at BCH for a massive total of 36 years between
.
N
them, and have raised £84,000 in the
,
process!
N
The couple who have been married for
n
51 years love volunteering so they are
n
not just wasting their time at home.
Sgg
Norman said “If we can make one
h
child or parent smile, then it has made
n
our day”
Owen Coupland
Owen has been a play volunteer since July
2013 and spends every Sunday afternoon
on Ward 15. Owen does different
activities with patients and siblings to help
distract them from the fact that they are
in hospital. He likes to make a difference
and make our children smile and hopes to
become a play worker in the future. The
ward have been so impressed with Owen's
efforts that they nominated him for the
April Star of the Month award!
Rachel and Cassie also visited Ward
8 at the special request of a patient
and her family who have been at
BCH since February.
Emer(pictured above) spent 45
minutes with Cassie and even
walked her as part of her
Physiotherapy session. Emer really
enjoyed the visit and said “it’s
awesome, I feel a lot better”.
Kim and Lily Wilkins
Lily wanted to volunteer at the hospital
after receiving treatment as a child. Her
mother, Kim came along to the
recruitment event to chaperone Lily and
ended up signing up herself to volunteer
in the Health promotions team.
Lily , who wants to study medicine, is a
play volunteer on ward 9 she plays games,
colours, reads and helps the nurses with
lunch.
Louise Pike
Louise decided she wanted to start volunteering after
24 years of nursing her father. She now volunteers in
the Emergency Department making tea and coffee
for families and playing and distracting patients and
siblings.
On one of Louise's first shifts in ED she supported one
family when they had just been told that their child
had Leukaemia. Louise stayed with the child so that
the their parents was able to speak to the doctors.
Natalie Edwards lead nurse said “Louise is amazing
she really made a difference to the family.”
Dates for your Diary
Volunteer open day : 24th October 9:30 – 12pm, 1:30-4pm. If you
would like to help out or talk about your experiences please contact
Lisa ([email protected] / 0121 333 8577)
Next film nights : 12th August, 9th September If you wish to get
involved please contact Dave Baker ([email protected] / 0121
333 8656)
InTent week : 15th – 19th September 9am-5pm – all week in the
Conservatory – contact Nayana Mistry if you wish to help out
(0121 333 8538)
Long Service Awards : 9th October 1pm–5pm – Banqueting Suite,
Council House, if you wish to help please contact Nayana Mistry
Trust Values
Living BCH values’ is our code of conduct and
at the heart of everything we do at BCH for
our patients, families, colleagues and teams.
Live our values with the statements
below.
Star of the Month – Pam Kumar
Huge congratulations to Pam
who won Star of the Month for
May, Pam who featured in our
last newsletter, was also a
volunteer of the day for national
volunteers week. We are very
proud of her and the work she
has done.
Pam pictured with Chief Executive
Sarah-Jayne Marsh after winning her award
June was also a proud month for the volunteers as Caroline
Shaw was nominated for Star of the Month!
Caroline volunteers in Main Outpatients and
was nominated for the June Star of the
Month by Dan Bowen, for offering him
support and a listening ear and also the
compassion she shows towards the many
patients and families attending
appointments in this really busy department.
She is pictured with Dan who said "It is truly special to discover a
volunteer who has chosen to be here in the Trust showing such
compassion, not being paid but wanting to be here! For that I
passionately feel she, and indeed the army of volunteers deserve
recognition for the often unsung massive contribution they give to
the hugely positive patient experience so many have through the
Trust.“
Caroline said “I spent most of my working life as a nurse at BCH, and
20 years in OPD, so it is wonderful to be in contact still, and to meet
'old' friends, and to have time to spend with families.”
Radio Lollipop celebrates 35 years by virtually travelling
the world.
Radio Lollipop Birmingham, at BCH, is the charity’s longest running station,
and are celebrating their 33rd birthday this year by raising money through a
Miles for Smiles project. They started in May and are travelling over 28,000
virtual miles (45,000 km) to link all 30 Radio Lollipop hospital stations around
the world. Volunteers, doctors, nurses, patients and their
families will be walking, running, riding, swimming etc.
for a year-long fundraiser. Radio Lollipop Birmingham
Chairman Aidan Thompson has already run 450 miles this
year and has raised over £250. This is an exciting time for
Radio Lollipop, a brand new studio will be launched
in the autumn in Main Outpatients so watch this space f
or more updates!
Please can you make sure that you are all signing in!
The folders are at the main desk in reception – Thank you
ID card update
Volunteer ID cards are now valid for 3 years, this has been
extended from 1 year. If your card stops allowing access to
the areas you normally use, please contact Lisa Robinson
who can arrange for it to be re-activated.
Tel: 0121 333 8577
Email: [email protected]
Wilson Stuart School visit
In June we hosted a visit for some students from Wilson Stuart
Special School. They came to see what we do in the hospital and
take a look around. Lisa spoke about volunteering and Charlotte
Green explained her role as an ArtCart volunteer and what it
means to her. The students had a great time and are pictured with
Charlotte(middle of back row)
Our raffle as part of
volunteers week was a
huge success in raising
money for the hospital,
We would like to thank
volunteer Jan Rathband
who helped with
managing the stand and
walking round the
hospital encouraging
people to come and buy
tickets. We raised £161.41
New Volunteers joining our team..
Roger Simpson – New Scouts and Guides Leader
Sarah Cowans – Scouts and Guides
Lauren Joiner – Ward 9
Eloise Hammond – Ward 7
Halima Barre – Emergency Department
Zakaria Saidani – Emergency Department