National Volunteers’ Week 2021 – Garden and Maintenance
From the 1st June until the 7th June, it is National Volunteers’ Week. Without our volunteers the Hospice wouldn’t be able to provide our vital services across the community. We are talking to a different department everyday to talk about how our volunteers make a difference.
Our garden volunteers are so crucial to keep our beautiful gardens maintained to be enjoyed by both staff and patients. Our patients often comment about being able to go outside to enjoy the nature and flowers that are lovingly cared for by our small group of volunteers. Our staff and volunteers enjoy having their lunch break in the garden when the weather allows. The garden volunteers help with planting, tidying flower beds, tree and bush trimming…basically everything involved in keeping a garden tidy. They might work alongside the caretaker or care for a specific area of the garden by themselves but there is always time for a cup of tea afterwards in the garden shed.
We really need more people to volunteer to help us in the garden, ideally a little bit of understanding on gardening with a couple of hours each week or fortnight to spare would be fantastic.
We also have volunteers who help us with building maintenance or ‘odd jobs’ . For example we have had one volunteer who has been particularly helpful with PPE during COVID-19, another who comes in to help with PAT testing once a year. We normally have a couple of volunteers that might help with DIY jobs around the building. This is important to keep the building safe and a pleasant environment for staff and patients. It also means we can ensure every penny coming into the charity is put to best use. Without all the volunteer support our money would not go as far.
Thank you
Philippa G, Head of Quality and Education