Certificates for students working as hospital volunteers

The group of eight students from Shropshire’s Concord College took part in Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust’s Youth Volunteer Programme.

This involved the students taking part in patient support roles, working as ward helpers or meeting and greeting at the hospital.

Some students helped hospital housekeepers to take food and drinks to patients.

One of the Concord volunteer team, 6.2 student Jady Chan, 18, volunteered on Sundays and some Wednesdays. She volunteered to broaden her experience of healthcare having already spent time visiting hospitals in Hong Kong.

She said she had particularly enjoyed interacting with the patients and their families, realising how important that can be for them.

Jady added that she had found the hospital environment to be more pleasant than she had imagined after reading news reports.

Mrs Orlagh Hotchkiss, Concord’s assistant principal, co-curricular, outreach and inclusion, said many of the Concord student volunteers were aspiring to work in medicine either as doctors or dentists. She said that for the students the experience of helping others in a healthcare setting was ‘inspiring and enlightening’.

Congratulating the students on their efforts and dedication, she added: "They embody the true values of Concord and we are incredibly proud of them and their work.

"It is a pleasure to hear of the superb commitment, kindness and determination demonstrated by these students. Their efforts and continued volunteering have no doubt made a positive contribution on all those they have worked with.

"I am sure the experience will continue to enrich their academic studies."

By Peter Love - Contributor