Volunteer Testimonies

Christian Fellowship Volunteer

I have been a volunteer with the State Hospital Christian Fellowship for about thirty years and love being a part of this community.

As the patients are not able to go out to visit church, we try to bring the church into the Hospital for the patients. Our meeting is interdenominational and open to all. We meet weekly for an hour in the morning.

Our get-together begins with tea / coffee / chat. The prayer meeting following is loosely structured. We usually sit in a circle — our meeting may include hymns chosen by the patients, a short talk on a Christian theme, a sharing time, a quiet, prayer time and a blessing from the Hospital chaplain.

We try to make the patients feel valued members of God’s family. The patients, in turn, make us feel welcome and valued in the Hospital.

Our staff assist with warmth and good humour and regularly participate in our meeting themselves.

There is a monthly opportunity for us to have a voice — to contribute an email with any suggestions, concerns or other comments [positive or negative] to the senior staff. This is a simple arrangement which enables us to feel a part of the Hospital and to communicate with the senior staff who take note and respond to our contributions.

Our meeting is a special time for me each week where I feel part of the wider family of God.

Daphne – Volunteer Visitor

My initial reason for volunteering was to put back into society what, over the years, society has given to me and enabled me to achieve.

I was originally approached by the NHS to fill another volunteering role which was short lived.  However as I had enjoyed the staff and the environment in which I was volunteering, it was suggested I became a volunteer visitor.  In this role, over the past 12 years, I have visited two patients on a monthly basis.  It has been a pleasure to see how much this has benefitted the first patient with whom I have established a firm friendship upon which he relies. My visits to the second patient evolved after teaching him to read and write over a couple of years which then discontinued as a result of Covid. 

It is rewarding to see the difference being a volunteer visitor can make to the lives of those less fortunate than myself.  I have also enjoyed the interaction with the staff and other volunteers at the Hospital where I volunteer.  It keeps me young!

Robert – Patient Learning Centre Volunteer

I work in the Patient Learning Centre (PLC), helping patients with literacy and numeracy at a variety of different levels. At all times I am made welcome and feel appreciated by both patients and staff.

I was originally directed to the Hospital as part of my work with the South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) Adult Literacy and Numeracy team in line with their policy of engaging all groups in the community, too many of whom have lost out in their earlier education.   On retirement I did not want to abruptly stop working with patients I had built up a relationship with and whom I had enjoyed working with.  I also find it rewarding to continue to be able to put to good use skills and knowledge I have built up during my life.

In my years at the Hospital, I have never ceased to be impressed at the kindness and thoughtfulness of the patients, both to each other and also to me as a visitor.   Although the process of learning is important, I believe the perception that someone cares is of incalculable value to the patients.   I am also impressed at their courage and their concern for other people in the outside world.

It is also fun to be in the PLC.  The atmosphere is always lively and pleasant with plenty of good humour between staff and patients.  It is a joy to be part of this.   

I cannot emphasise enough that volunteering is a two-way process.