Meet Naomi: Our Volunteer Patient Carer Representative

Naomi has been volunteering with the Hospice for around 2 and a half years, helping to represent the patients and families we have at the Hospice. She says, “Part of my job is to talk to patients who are able to speak and feel up to it, asking if everything is okay or if they have any concerns so that I can refer any concerns onto the appropriate person. Usually though everything is okay and they can’t fault the place.”

For Naomi volunteering has supported in giving her a sense of camaraderie with her saying “I’ve worked for the NHS for 22 years and when I retired, I missed the atmosphere and the camaraderie. I’d always had in mind to volunteer here so here I am; I’ve not looked back since.”

With many different volunteer roles at the Hospice, volunteers can learn new skills or bring their own skills to the role. For Naomi, she has a wealth of knowledge and past experiences that she has used while volunteering. She says, “I’ve had several roles in data collection, mostly in hospitals along with other roles such as working in Leicester Royal Infirmary for the Blood and Marrow transplant unit. It was my job to follow up every patient who had received a transplant. I have always worked in services helping people, including the charity TypeTalk. Volunteering enables me to contribute all those skills I’ve gathered over the years to Halton Haven Hospice.”

Adding, “I love meeting other people, I love the camaraderie of the Hospice environment, I love helping and talking to the patients. I just like working with other people in the Hospice to get jobs done. The every day stuff keeps my brain ticking over.”

For many of our volunteers, volunteering fits around their other life commitments and is something they enjoy doing. Naomi says “I have other things going on during the week, so I slot Halton Haven in once a week. Volunteering makes me feel good because it makes me feel like I’ve contributed to a good service.”

If you’re thinking about volunteering, Naomi says, “Do it, my husband is volunteering here too. We love it.”

Halton Haven Hospice, “It’s a beautiful place with a beautiful atmosphere, and a beautiful place for people suffering from acute conditions and those that are on end of life. It’s an absolutely perfect place with lots of love. That’s all I can say.” If you’re interested in volunteering at Halton Haven, let us know by emailing info@haltonhaven.co.uk.