Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charities

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Visitors urged to ‘give a hand’

June 11, 2012

Visitors to QEHB will be asked to ‘give a hand’ to the army of volunteers who make such a valuable contribution to the hospital every single day.  People will be encouraged to make a £1 donation to support the many volunteers who give their time for free across the hospital trust.

The ‘Help our Helping Hands’ initiative invites visitors to write messages of thanks in return for their donation.  The messages will then be posted on giant hands which will be on display in the main Atrium of the QEHB from Monday 11 June to Wednesday 13 June.  All proceeds from the event will go to QEHB’s Volunteers’ Fund.

The fundraising idea came from former patient Julia Liddle who has volunteered for the Trust for two years, starting at Selly Oak Hospital before moving to QEHB.  Julia, who is also an active member of the Patient Carer Council, Volunteer Committee and Volunteer Recruitment Committee, called on her husband Brian to make the giant hands.  She said: “The NHS has saved my life, my daughter’s life and saved my husband’s life three times. So when I retired, I wanted to do something to pay them back.

“There’s always a reason why you do these things, every volunteer want to give something back.” 

The QEHB Charity has been a long term supporter of the volunteers; in the past donations have paid for a Volunteers co-ordinator and the charity continues to fund uniforms and the annual ‘thank you’ lunch event.

Volunteers make a unique and valuable contribution to patients, visitors and staff at UHB. They have become an integral part of many of the ward and department teams across the hospitals and complement the care that staff provide for patients.

Carol Rawlings, the Trust’s Associate Director of Patient Affairs said: “From helping on wards, and supporting the cancer information service to encouraging patients who are exercising in the cardiac gym, we have more than 700 volunteers in a variety of different roles across the hospital.

“It is impossible to measure the impact that our volunteers make on the experience of our patients, their families and visitors, but we know they do a grand job from the many compliments we receive about them.”

The helping hands display will be in the main atrium of the hospital from 10am to 4pm and from 6pm-7pm between June 11 and 13.

Julia is pictured with fellow volunteer Derek Waller and Carol Rawlings, the Trust’s Associate Director of Patient Affairs and Chair of the National Association of Voluntary Services Managers.

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