To celebrate national volunteers’ week, the NHS in north Cumbria is shining a spotlight on more of its many volunteers that help to keep our healthcare system going.

The North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust, which runs the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven and a number of community hospitals, is this week celebrating its 174 volunteers and a further 82 volunteers who have joined since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Forty-four of these volunteers are based in Carlisle, while a further 35 are based in west Cumbria and two in Eden.

Throughout this week, the trust is shining a spotlight on some of the more than 200 volunteers who work in all sorts of roles, from administration to helping to provide emotional support to those facing some of the most difficult times of their lives.

One of these volunteers is Sheila Goodliffe, a member of the chaplaincy team at the Cumberland Infirmary, who also provides chaplaincy services at Brampton Community Hospital.

“It is a privilege to be available to patients, and indeed relatives and staff, each week," she said.

“For patients, perhaps in pain and wondering about the future and the impact on their families as well as themselves, it is good to be there with them for concerns to be shared in confidence.

“Sometimes it can be quite stressful, especially if the patient or relative knows or feels that successful treatment is not an option.

“But on leaving them, I am often thanked for just being there, giving them time and for listening and it is rewarding to feel that in a small way I may have made a difference.”

Another of the Cumberland Infirmary’s chaplaincy volunteers is Trish Turner.

She explained how patients find comfort and value in being listened to, that there is someone there to hear them talk.

“This role involves going onto a ward and simply chatting, but mainly listening, to the patients,” she said. “At first, it is quite daunting to approach someone you do not know, who is in a vulnerable situation - poorly and in bed.

“But you quickly learn the best way to open up the conversation... most people are more than happy to talk about their family, their pets, their garden. There are few visits that don’t involve us having a chuckle about something.

“Sometimes, it is just a case of sitting with the patient, being quiet with them, but being there, a gentle presence.

“It is very rewarding to see someone who, on initial contact seems a bit reticent to talk, blossoming after a few minutes.”

Some of the trust’s volunteers work with the Macmillan cancer support team at the Cumberland Infirmary. One is Anne Thompson-Lay, a former primary school teacher.

She explained that she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 23 years ago, and her health meant she had to to leave her job.

“Now, instead, I use my abilities to do four different voluntary roles each week, of which Macmillan is one,” Anne said.

“I have just been awarded my five-year volunteering certificate. Other volunteers are reaching 10 years, so I have a bit of a way to go yet.”

Other volunteers have only joined very recently as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting their normal working lives.

One such volunteer is Sarah Lomax, who began volunteering at Workington Community Hospital, where she is currently helping its domestic team.

“It makes me feel I’m doing something useful while being off work myself in these unprecedented times,” she said. “They’re a great team of people who are working extremely hard and have made us feel very welcome.”