Media Release
Date: 3 February 2021
RUH's colourful volunteers work through the pandemic
Volunteers working for the League of Friends of the RUH – a charity that raises money for the hospital to benefit patients and visitors – who have been supporting the hospital throughout the COVID-19 pandemic now have an eye-catching new uniform to wear while they help out at the Trust.
Since the start of the pandemic, Friends of the RUH volunteers have given up more than 7,000 hours of their time and the charity has also been able to recruit an incredible 122 additional volunteers.
The Friends have now introduced a new fuchsia-coloured polo shirt, which will make the volunteers easier to identify to people on site – both patients and staff.
Samantha Nolan, Volunteer Services Manager, said: "The new shirt really makes our volunteers stand out, and helps our staff and patients to identify them.
"During the pandemic we have introduced new roles like ward support, housekeeping and estates volunteers. There are also welcome volunteers in oncology and we have been helping the reception team to show patients around the hospital as well as assisting patients with mobility problems.
"It's been a challenging time but it has also been a time to embrace new ways of working and to show how resilient and committed we all are as an organisation and as always we are amazed at the dedication of our volunteers." During the pandemic, the Friends of the RUH implemented a new volunteer management system which has meant they can now recruit and deploy new volunteers more quickly.
All volunteers have had to adapt to new ways of working, socially distancing at all times and following the hands, face, space guidance.
Bernard Rymer, Chair of the Friends, said: "The charity's role at the RUH is to help and support patients, which we do in a variety of ways. We have a group of volunteers who welcome patients as they arrive at the main entrance and we direct or take them to their respective clinics or wards.
"We have another group that supports the work of the nursing staff on the wards and also have volunteers working in our convenience shop and Coffee House and many other places.
"The trustees wanted the Friends of the RUH volunteers to be recognised and easily identified by those in need. The fuchsia colour polo shirts were selected as they didn't clash with colours used by RUH staff.
"The shirts also sport the new Friends of the RUH logo, which we have updated to give a more contemporary feel. This updated logo, along with the new Friends 'uniform', reflects the work we are doing on site to refurbish our Atrium shop with a fresher, more modern look."
To find out more about the work of the Friends of the RUH and volunteering opportunities, go to www.friendsoftheruh.org.uk