Become a volunteer

CNWL volunteers play an important role in complementing the work of our staff. Volunteering enables members of the local community to participate and gain valuable experience in our work, benefitting service users, carers, staff and the overall community.

The volunteers at CNWL come from all walks of life and occupations, from students gaining experience to former patients, carers, people who have retired, and our staff members volunteer too.

Volunteers enhance, support and help our services, rather than do a job. You will never be asked to do duties that are part of a paid role.

Volunteering can have a positive impact on your mental and physical health and is a great way to meet new like-minded people. Volunteering can also help you gain new skills and experience in different environments, roles and areas of work.

Volunteering at CNWL NHS Trust also enhances the services we provide at the Trust and strengthens the relationship between services and communities, helping transforming patient and carer experience and supporting our teams’ resilience.

There are some other tangible benefits to volunteering:

• You can get references after six months for future volunteering roles or employment
• Volunteers can be nominated for the Gem Awards, recognizing your hard work and dedication
• We cover the travel expenses you have incurred in your role and some light lunch expenses when you volunteer for more than four hours

We have some set roles that we are looking to recruit during the Covid pandemic such as:

• Community Reserve Volunteer – helping in the local community, such as running errands, checking up on a service user or volunteer driving.
• Emergency Response Volunteer – within our inpatient units, for example supporting activities or helping during meal times.
• Emergency Support Volunteer – in non-patient facing roles, for example answering the phone, photocopying documents or organising paperwork.
• Check in and Chat Volunteers - provide valuable listening, support and signposting to our service users and carers.
• Wellbeing (take a break) Volunteers - Facilitating a safe and welcoming space for staff to have a break from the pressures of their shift. Offer a friendly listening ear, enabling conversations to develop. Making our staff feeling they are looked after, this could be simply done by making a hot drink or offering a snack.

We are always open to develop other roles that suit your skills, experience and interests, so if you have anything you’d like to share or get involved with, please let us know.

Our volunteers can be based in Hospitals/ Inpatient services, in roles such as discharge assistant, hospital guides/ navigators, welcome volunteers. They support within wards and departments carrying out specialist roles: ward assistants, befriending, reading, mealtime companions, activities and entertainment volunteers, and administrative support.

Our colleagues on Primary care, Community services and General practice usually have volunteers involved in their services in roles such as social and activities organisers, befriending/ visiting, interpreters, expert patients, health champions and lifestyle coaches just to name a few.

This list is not comprehensive: it indicates some of the roles undertaken by volunteers within the NHS. Volunteers often operate across various roles and health settings.

We have this leaflet, providing more information on how you can make a difference while volunteering with CNWL and our current Volunteer Policy sets out all you need to know about volunteering with us.