A dedicated volunteer has gone above and beyond to support staff and patients at Warrington Hospital with more than 1,500 hours of volunteering support.
James Petley, who goes by the name of Alan, has been volunteering as part of the team at Warrington Hospital since 2019 following the death of his wife, Chris.
Alan, a 79-year-old retired engineer, started his volunteer journey as a wayfinder, providing support to patients, carers and visitors when they arrived at the hospital. His ‘happy to help’ attitude helped provide a friendly face at the hospital front door and valuable support to direct people to where they needed to be.
Alan said: “My wife told me to keep myself busy though volunteering which led me to exploring the options at the hospital as she’d received end of life care at the hospital. I have been retired for 26 years’ but enjoy spending my days helping out at the hospital and keeping myself busy.”
After a few months, Alan moved on to support Ward A1 by providing refreshments, supporting with general housekeeping and lending a listening ear to patients on the ward. However, in 2020 Alan was advised he would need to leave the ward, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and wouldn’t be able to return until he was contacted by a member of the team.
Since the return of the volunteer scheme in 2021, Alan has been supporting the Discharge Lounge every weekday between 9am to 1pm. Alan helps to collect patients from the wards, keep the lounge clean and tidy, and reassure patients as they prepare to go home.
When asked why he volunteers, Alan said: “I enjoy giving back help to the hospital for the support and care they gave myself and Chris during her illness. I enjoy working with great staff in all of the departments I have worked alongside as a volunteer.
“I would really like to encourage others to give volunteering a go, there’s lots of different things you can do at the hospital to help, and you also meet other people who are doing the same thing, which is nice.”
Alan is one of 150 volunteers at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals (WHH) helping to make a difference to patient experience and the work of staff across the Trust. Volunteering at WHH is a fantastic way to gain new skills, prepare for employment or keep busy during retirement, meet new friends and do something rewarding.
Jen Braide, Volunteers and Patient Experience Manager at WHH, said: “We are so grateful to all our wonderful volunteers who generously give their time to support the smooth running of our hospital. Volunteering at your local hospital is a fantastic way to give something back, gain experience if you’re looking to work in healthcare or take the first steps into employment and gain new skills. There are lots of ways you can get involved to support our patients, visitors, and staff and all we ask is that you are able to commit to a couple of hours a week.”
If you would like to make a valuable contribution to the day-to-day running of the Trust, then why not consider joining the large and vibrant team of volunteers who work across both the Warrington and Hospital sites.
You can find out more about the volunteering opportunities at WHH on the Trust website: Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust – Volunteer (whh.nhs.uk)
