Volunteers' news

Long standing volunteers who have given a combined total of 460 years of their time to helping others across UHDB have been honoured at a special ceremony.

The volunteers, whose service spans from 5 years to an incredible 50 years of service were thanked for their efforts and awarded certificates and pin badges to commemorate their time here.

Andrew Selby, Director of Estates and Facilities Management, spoke at the event and called the volunteers 'heroes' saying they are vital to the Trust as he provided certificates to volunteers with a total of 460 years of volunteering service.

An "exceptional and dedicated" teenager, who volunteered his time to help patients receiving end of life care at UHDB, has been given an award in recognition of his efforts.

Aymen Boud, who is 17-years-old, was handed the award after taking part in the NHS Cadets scheme, which saw him spend 36-weeks helping colleagues care for patients and their families on Ward 2 at Florence Nightingale Community Hospital in Derby.

We were delighted to celebrate UHDB and League of Friends volunteers recently, in a ceremony that recognised our dedicated volunteers that have supported the Trust. We were also able to recognise our student volunteers for their exceptional work they have provided during their work experience placements.

We were delighted to celebrate the amazing UHDB and League of Friends volunteers recently, in a ceremony which recognised and commemorated our dedicated volunteers that have supported the Trust for many years.

Today, 1 June, marks the start of National Volunteers’ week and as ever on behalf of the Trust, we are forever grateful for our volunteers contribution and support to our hospitals.

Here at UHDB we have more than 610 volunteers and have actively restored over 220 volunteers back into the Trust across our five sites.

Volunteers and the Voluntary Service Team across UHDB have been recognised for their resilience and going above and beyond throughout the Covid-19 pandemic after being awarded with a Team UHDB Making a Difference Award.

In March 2020 we paused many of our volunteering roles as the country went into lockdown. After months of being away from the Trust, volunteers who support UHDB have slowly began to return.

Queen’s Hospital Burton now has a brand new transport buggy available to help ferry our patients to different corners of the hospital. The buggy started giving lifts to our very first patients this week, in a bid to help those who are less mobile get to their appointments on time and in comfort.

Staff and patients at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton have extended their congratulations to its oldest volunteer who has turned 95.

Tom Walker, age 95 from Burton, has been volunteering at the Queen’s Hospital Burton for over 20 years, first starting out as a volunteer in 2000.

The retired painter and decorator, initially started out as befriender at Geoffrey Hodges, supporting Ward 41, 42 and 43. Tom then moved across to the main site and helped support on Ward 11 which was the care of the elderly ward at the time, again as a befriender.