Episode 21

full
Published on:

24th Jun 2025

Volunteering for Health

Volunteering for Health is an exciting national programme and Norfolk and Waveney are one of 15 partnerships involved. In this episode we meet Nicky Stainton at Voluntary Norfolk who tells us all about what is underway in Norfolk and Waveney. Then we hear from Samantha Hartles at NHS Charities Together who shares the background and ambitions for this fantastic initiative.

To find out more about Volunteering for Health in Norfolk and Waveney visit https://improvinglivesnw.org.uk/volunteering-for-health-norfolk-and-waveney/

To get in touch with the Volunteering Discovery or Volunteering for Health team, contact nwicb.volunteering@nhs.net

Volunteering Discovery is produced by Hospital Radio Norwich for Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System.

Transcript
Sarah:

Hello and welcome to Volunteering Discovery.

Sarah:

This is a podcast which takes you behind the scenes of volunteering

Sarah:

in health and social care.

Sarah:

In Norfolk and Waveney volunteers enhance the experience of people accessing health

Sarah:

and social care in a huge variety of ways in our hospitals, our communities, and

Sarah:

even from the comfort of their own homes.

Sarah:

I'm your host Sarah, a volunteer coordinator working in the NHS.

Sarah:

Volunteering for Health is an exciting national program that

Sarah:

is being delivered through a partnership between NHS Charities

Sarah:

together, NHS England and CW Plus.

Sarah:

Norfolk and Waveney won a 15 partnership successful in

Sarah:

their application for funding.

Sarah:

To find out more about this opportunity, producer Jewel spoke to Nikki Staton

Sarah:

at Voluntary Norfolk and Samantha Hart's NHS Charities together.

Sarah:

First, we'll hear Jewels Chats with Nikki about the Norfolk and Wave new

Jules:

partnership.

Jules:

Thank you so much for being here today to talk to us about volunteering for health.

Jules:

Could you start by telling us who you are and what your role is

Jules:

within the Volunteering for Health Partnership in Norfolk and Waveney?

Jules:

Hello?

Jules:

Yeah.

Jules:

My name is

Nicky:

Nikki Stanton.

Nicky:

I am the joint head of sector support at Voluntary Norfolk, with a particular

Nicky:

focus on volunteering and volunteer.

Nicky:

Norfolk is one of the partners of volunteering for health.

Nicky:

And we are leading on quite a lot of the delivery of the activities and

Nicky:

have based here two of the new posts that we created through the project.

Jules:

We are going to be hearing from Samantha later about what volunteering

Jules:

for health is in a national context.

Jules:

Could you tell us what the idea behind the partnership in Norfolk Waveney was?

Jules:

We had

Nicky:

been meeting in a cross sector forum for a little while to

Nicky:

try and create a Norfolk vision for volunteering and to develop a sort

Nicky:

of coordinated, joined up approach to that so that that had started in, in.

Nicky:

2022 that initially research and then developing the ideas

Nicky:

and sounding them out, and then having an official launch in 2023.

Nicky:

And so since then, we've gradually been trying to build the relationships

Nicky:

between the voluntary sector.

Nicky:

And the health sector and, and the local authorities to support volunteering

Nicky:

across the whole of Norfolk initially.

Nicky:

And then when we saw the volunteering for Health initiative advertised, we

Nicky:

thought this was a fantastic opportunity to try and translate some of our

Nicky:

ambitions into actions by being able to secure a budget to pay for staff to

Nicky:

be able to actually go out and test.

Nicky:

Some of the ideas we've got specifically around trying to make volunteering

Nicky:

more inclusive, more welcoming to people who haven't traditionally

Nicky:

volunteered, and to make it people feel, recognize the benefits of it.

Jules:

And in those three years of the project, what are

Jules:

you hoping will be achieved?

Jules:

Good question.

Jules:

It has

Nicky:

about three main strands to it.

Nicky:

This project, one strand is looking at how we work with

Nicky:

voluntary sector organizations.

Nicky:

Charities, community groups, social enterprises, any sort of not-for-profit

Nicky:

groups to engage members of the public who are experiencing health inequalities

Nicky:

and in particular those who have learning disabilities, autism, or

Nicky:

are a neurodivergent or looked after children or children leaving care.

Nicky:

We knew from a search in Norfolk that those groups.

Nicky:

Are some of the key ones that, that, that suffer from health inequalities.

Nicky:

So we identify that they would probably get a lot of benefit from

Nicky:

volunteering from that sort of social contact, from the confidence it gives

Nicky:

you from also moving towards work.

Nicky:

We identified those.

Nicky:

So that is one group that we are gonna be working with.

Nicky:

And we have a volunteering innovation manager who's just been appointed, who

Nicky:

will work with those organizations, those voluntary organizations, to

Nicky:

develop small scale projects where we can try out ideas of what are the main

Nicky:

barriers, how do we get over them?

Nicky:

What are the main motivations?

Nicky:

How can we make volunteering attractive?

Nicky:

How can we support people to move on from one-offs into more regular volunteering?

Nicky:

And particularly if that can be within health and care settings.

Nicky:

So we have a volunteering innovation fund, which is there to help cover the

Nicky:

costs for these financial organizations, for any activities they're setting up.

Nicky:

So they're not for core costs, but they're for project costs really.

Nicky:

And part of that money award will be to enable them to help us learn

Nicky:

about what's working, what's not.

Nicky:

So there can be quite a lot of evaluation in there.

Nicky:

And and reviewing of the main lessons.

Nicky:

Strand two is about working in health settings, but primarily primary care

Nicky:

settings, GP surgeries, community pharmacies, maybe community dentistry

Nicky:

practices, um, and helping the staff in those organizations to engage with

Nicky:

volunteers if they haven't done before or to extend what they do because we

Nicky:

know that volunteering in some of the health sector is very effective and.

Nicky:

But doesn't exist in others.

Nicky:

The, so the third strand is this Get Involved Fund and which is part of

Nicky:

the Get Involved Norfolk website, which is about recruiting volunteers.

Nicky:

And we also have now just developed into a skills hub so that people

Nicky:

will be able to find opportunities for training and development.

Nicky:

So this might be for volunteers.

Nicky:

Or people thinking about volunteering or also for volunteer managers.

Nicky:

And then and beyond that sort of at a sort of a longer term level, we are

Nicky:

hoping to make the arguments to the authorities that have the funding to

Nicky:

say volunteering is really beneficial.

Nicky:

It's really effective.

Nicky:

It can help solve a lot of problems and, but it's doesn't come for free.

Jules:

Thinking about those different strands of the program, I'm curious how

Jules:

they relate to what you found through the vision for volunteering and what

Jules:

was discovered through that research.

Nicky:

I think the main lessons we learned from that, and they're similar

Nicky:

to the national research findings as well, is that a lot of the long-term,

Nicky:

regular, older volunteers that have been underpinning many organizations

Nicky:

for decades sometimes had to step back during COVID because they were older.

Nicky:

They may have been vulnerable.

Nicky:

Because their organization stopped doing what it was doing or had to pivot to a

Nicky:

more technology based way of delivering services, which didn't really suit them.

Nicky:

So we lost a large S swat of some of the key volunteers.

Nicky:

In, in, in organizations, particularly smaller organizations, rural ones, and

Nicky:

that it was proving difficult to recruit new volunteers because people are very,

Nicky:

there were so many demands on their time.

Nicky:

Those that were coming up.

Nicky:

There was the active elderly still very often were extending their time at work.

Nicky:

The retirement age has as extended so that they were still working or

Nicky:

sometimes they were choosing to work.

Nicky:

Sometimes they were going back into work.

Nicky:

Very often they were doing care care duties for their family, different

Nicky:

generations of their family.

Nicky:

When the community, perhaps neighbors and then people are working, we

Nicky:

all know everybody's trying to do more with less time these days.

Nicky:

So the sort of the regular volunteering opportunities.

Nicky:

Were not being taken up.

Nicky:

We need to think about the sorts of opportunities that people can access,

Nicky:

that perhaps more responsive, that perhaps can be done remotely if they still are

Nicky:

not happy about leaving home or they're, they want to fit around work commitments.

Nicky:

So things like telephone befriending or, or also online coaching or even

Nicky:

being a trustee, but from a distance where you can join online for meetings.

Nicky:

So we are looking at those different sorts of opportunities.

Nicky:

We're also looking at how volunteering can be made attractive to younger people

Nicky:

so that we are looking at developing the next generations of volunteers.

Nicky:

And then just around issues around accessibility, the physical accessibility

Nicky:

into workplaces, but also the sort of.

Nicky:

The additional support that sometimes is needed.

Nicky:

And so it's about looking at quite specific barriers that different groups

Nicky:

face and we can't solve them all.

Nicky:

Transport is quite a big issue in Norfolk and, and that limits where people can go

Nicky:

to volunteer, but there are ones that we can reduce or even hopefully eliminate.

Jules:

In the partnership, you've mentioned that voluntary Norfolk are

Jules:

leading a lot of the delivery element.

Jules:

Who are the other partners and could you tell us about the

Jules:

role that they'll be playing?

Jules:

We've got, there are seven partners

Nicky:

altogether, so the ICB is the lead partner.

Nicky:

The ICB is handling the, the actual grant that comes in, and so on doing that

Nicky:

financial reporting, part of the support to the voluntary organizations that

Nicky:

we're gonna work with is that Community Action Norfolk and Community Action

Nicky:

Suffolk are going to help administer the grants, but also give support to those

Nicky:

smaller organizations that might need it.

Nicky:

So whilst we are in contact with them and we're saying, oh, you're

Nicky:

doing some great bit of work here.

Nicky:

But maybe you need some support with looking at your business planning

Nicky:

or your, your trustee recruitment or support or marketing and social media.

Nicky:

Is there other things that we can do to help you become a more robust

Nicky:

organization plan for the future, to identify perhaps other funding

Nicky:

streams to make them a more robust?

Nicky:

So that's gonna be a great addition, I think, to, to those people that we're

Nicky:

gonna engage with as organizations.

Nicky:

Norfolk County Council is, is a partner because they have

Nicky:

public health under their wing.

Nicky:

So that's something that we need to be aware of and we have close connections

Nicky:

with the, the community team at, at the county council, and they're very

Nicky:

supportive of, of this sort of work and of us making sure that volunteering

Nicky:

is, can grow and can develop.

Nicky:

And we have Sally Dyson for the Northern Orange University Hospital

Nicky:

who as fantastic experience.

Nicky:

Of volunteering within the health service.

Nicky:

And she is a font of wisdom about and knowledge about how to support

Nicky:

volunteers and what the benefits are and, and where we can direct them to.

Nicky:

And then the final partner is the Institute for Volunteering

Nicky:

Research, who are based at the University of East Anglia.

Nicky:

And they are working alongside us to help us evaluate what it is that we are doing.

Nicky:

So we are asking the organizations, we're giving the small funds to.

Nicky:

How are they working for you?

Nicky:

We need to be looking at ourselves and saying, how is this working overall?

Nicky:

Is it achievement we're trying to achieve?

Nicky:

How do we know that it is and how can we demonstrate in the longer term

Nicky:

that volunteering is worth supporting?

Jules:

It sounds like there's still a lot of work to do.

Jules:

The program started last year.

Jules:

What's been happening since then?

Jules:

It's like an iceberg really.

Jules:

There's not an

Nicky:

awful lot at the top of that's poking out the water, but there has

Nicky:

been a great deal of work to build a foundation for it because this is a

Nicky:

national scheme and we are one of 15 collaborations that have been given funds.

Nicky:

There has been quite a lot of development time going in to make sure that there

Nicky:

was structures and paperwork and advice.

Nicky:

And opportunities that were going to be available for all of us.

Nicky:

There's been a focus on trying to establish cross area relationships

Nicky:

so that we can learn from each other, share as we go along the learning.

Nicky:

There's also been putting in place those, making more robust, those partnership

Nicky:

relationships, recognizing how do we.

Nicky:

How are we actually to deliver this?

Nicky:

What is the shape of the jobs that we need to have out there?

Nicky:

How are we, how are we going to find the right people to do those jobs?

Nicky:

What?

Nicky:

Once we decided that, so we have been having quite a lot of meetings,

Nicky:

setting up a lot of the structures and the systems that will be essential

Nicky:

for the next couple of years.

Nicky:

And then goes

Jules:

through

Nicky:

recruitment

Jules:

process.

Jules:

So the innovation fund has launched.

Jules:

What else is coming next?

Nicky:

We'll be talking to the primary care networks and, and those within

Nicky:

the NH system that are using volunteers already or have said that they would like

Nicky:

to develop volunteering opportunities in their practice or in their settings.

Nicky:

So that's going to be an important part of the next sort of.

Nicky:

Three to six months is identifying who those potential partners out

Nicky:

within the system, the health system care system, are going to be, and

Nicky:

building the relationships with them.

Nicky:

We're also going to be giving out the first lot of the innovation

Nicky:

fund awards end of June probably for, to get that underway.

Nicky:

So then we'll start to see.

Nicky:

Well, actually, it's like when people are delivering and how do we

Nicky:

monitor that, measure that, how do we keep involved in that so we can

Nicky:

see what's learning and what's not.

Nicky:

Then with the get involved skills platform, we are really looking to develop

Nicky:

that more, to be more comprehensive.

Nicky:

So we already have a resources page on there.

Nicky:

Lots of really useful resources about policies and procedures, about good

Nicky:

practice, connections, references to guidelines, all sorts of things on there.

Nicky:

Which I would urge people to go and check out because it's already

Nicky:

brilliant, but obviously there's a lot of information out there and

Nicky:

we need to find what is the useful information to bring in and put up there.

Nicky:

It's probably on a website somewhere else, but it's useful having

Nicky:

everything together so people can just see, ah, that's up there too.

Nicky:

I'll check that one out and and find that there's really useful

Nicky:

guidance, something they haven't even thought about particularly.

Jules:

Thank you so much for your time today, Nikki.

Jules:

I've got one last question for you, which is, in such a big project with

Jules:

so many different things happening, is there one particular thing that stands

Jules:

out to you as exciting or interesting?

Jules:

I think what's U unique about

Nicky:

this project is that it is fluid, that it is about learning.

Nicky:

It isn't a target driven project, which so often it is.

Nicky:

We've said, we're gonna do this, we've gotta get 28 of those, we've

Nicky:

gotta get a hundred of these, and we've got to do it by that date.

Nicky:

And you're just driven to try and do it as best you can, but at the end

Nicky:

you're being forced to do stuff because.

Nicky:

You've said you would deliver this a quantity.

Nicky:

This is much more about quality.

Nicky:

This is much more about donuts, number, worry about the numbers.

Nicky:

Let's.

Nicky:

Try and drill down and see the nitty gritty of if there's a group of adults

Nicky:

with learning disabilities who live in rural North Norfolk, who would love to

Nicky:

volunteer but don't know how to do it, what are the actual steps we need to take

Nicky:

to enable them to feel confident about it?

Nicky:

For them to understand what the options are, the opportunities to look at their

Nicky:

transport requirements, look at the training that organization that might

Nicky:

host them will need before they come so that they can welcome them properly

Nicky:

and give them the right support.

Nicky:

That we can measure the benefit to those individuals.

Nicky:

Did they get out of it?

Nicky:

They hoped they would.

Nicky:

Did they feel supported?

Nicky:

Would they like to do it again?

Nicky:

Where might they like to do it?

Nicky:

So that there's lots of questions there that we can learn a great deal from.

Nicky:

And normally we don't have the time to ask all those questions or to focus on a small

Nicky:

group like that and to really learn from it and then say, okay, we think we sorted

Nicky:

some of the challenges up in North Orford.

Nicky:

Let's try it with a difficult group somewhere else, or, let's try it.

Nicky:

Over in West Norfolk where there's a group that would like to do

Nicky:

something a bit similar and let's see what else we can learn from there.

Nicky:

And then to the wider voluntary sector.

Nicky:

If you would like adults learning to facilities come and help you

Nicky:

in your organization, they'd love to come and do it, but you need

Nicky:

to have this and this in place.

Nicky:

So I think that's gonna be really exciting.

Sarah:

We hope you'll agree with Nikki that it sounds like an exciting

Sarah:

initiative to be involved in.

Sarah:

To hear how the Norfolk Waverley partnership fits within the wider

Sarah:

context, we now turn to our second guest.

Samantha:

So I'm Samantha Hartle.

Samantha:

I am the National Lead for Volunteering for Health, working

Samantha:

at NHS Charities together.

Samantha:

And I guess a summary of my role would be the kind of responsibility

Samantha:

around strategic systems change for volunteering infrastructure with a

Samantha:

focus on how we do it through learning.

Samantha:

So quite a nice, exciting job I would say.

Samantha:

Is there a way that you can summarize such a big project and tell us what

Samantha:

is volunteering for house before?

Samantha:

I'll give it a try.

Samantha:

So it's, it's a national program and the specific focus is on

Samantha:

volunteering infrastructure.

Samantha:

So we're investing 10 million pounds over three years.

Samantha:

And the core focus, well, there's a few core areas, is developing volunteering

Samantha:

infrastructure and building capacity and capability in organizations

Samantha:

in health and care, accelerating change and breaking down barriers to

Samantha:

volunteering, building connections, and a network between systems.

Samantha:

Testing new models and hopefully scaling them up, spreading best practice and

Samantha:

just developing that infrastructure in as many places as possible.

Samantha:

But I think the most important thing is, is the focus on learning.

Samantha:

So although we've got 15 funded partnerships, it's how we then scale up

Samantha:

that learning to all the other systems across England so that they can develop

Samantha:

their volunteering infrastructure.

Samantha:

Such an

Jules:

exciting opportunity and something that doesn't come along very often.

Jules:

Would you be able to tell us about the background to the

Jules:

program, how it came to being?

Samantha:

I don't think we go a day without mentioning the COVID to

Samantha:

Nineteens pandemic, but during the pandemic, obviously we had hundreds and

Samantha:

thousands of volunteers that stepped forwards to give their time and to

Samantha:

support the NHS and their communities.

Samantha:

And the pandemic really highlighted the important role that volunteers can play.

Samantha:

But it also raised a lot of questions about the effectiveness of our current.

Samantha:

Volunteering approaches and what could we do to harness some of that

Samantha:

learning and the power of volunteers?

Samantha:

So after COVID Pandemic, the NHS Volunteering Task Force was set

Samantha:

up in 2022, and that was bringing together volunteers, clinicians, civil

Samantha:

servants, the voluntary sector, to understand how to harness and build

Samantha:

upon that outpouring of help that.

Samantha:

We saw happen in, in the pandemic, the result was a set of recommendations to

Samantha:

take volunteering to the next level.

Samantha:

And that's kind of how this program has been born outta

Samantha:

that set of recommendations.

Samantha:

So it's, it's being delivered in partnership between NHS England

Samantha:

CW Plus, who are the official charity for Chelsea and Westminster

Samantha:

Hospital and NHS charities together.

Samantha:

And I guess it's just important to say that even though.

Samantha:

So much amazing work came out of the pandemic and, and it hasn't continued

Samantha:

everywhere and purely not at that scale.

Samantha:

This program isn't about increasing volunteer numbers or demonstrating the

Samantha:

value of volunteering because I think we are all very aware of how wonderful

Samantha:

volunteering is that kind of value is.

Samantha:

Understood and known by many.

Samantha:

It's actually asking more questions about how do we make this work

Samantha:

in every system, in every place, and what are the conditions that

Samantha:

are needed to make that work?

Samantha:

So with all that in mind, you mentioned that Norfolk and Waveney

Samantha:

were one of 15 partnerships.

Samantha:

Yeah.

Samantha:

What was it about the application for our area that stood out?

Samantha:

So we really wanted a diverse portfolio of partnerships.

Samantha:

So we wanted some areas that had little to no volunteering infrastructure

Samantha:

whatsoever who maybe have not had much investment over previous years.

Samantha:

Through to other systems that are more mature, that have great models

Samantha:

already, but the investment would kind of take them to the next level.

Samantha:

We wanted a mixture of NHS led.

Samantha:

We wanted voluntary sector led, and also to think about the different issues that.

Samantha:

Partnerships we're looking at specifically.

Samantha:

So something for me that stood out for Norfolk and Waveney was the wanting

Samantha:

to target local issues and that real passion for co-design and cross

Samantha:

sectoral collaboration, but also the fact that Norfolk and Waveney has got.

Samantha:

Brilliant foundations in place with a proven track record with

Samantha:

your volunteer, Norfolk Volunteer Path and the volunteer Academy.

Samantha:

So it's, I think we see this partnership and the potential is really exciting.

Samantha:

'cause there's already so much great work in place with really

Samantha:

good, strong relationships.

Samantha:

It's, it's being able to see how that goes to the next level.

Jules:

Does the work that we'll be looking at in Norfolk and

Jules:

Waveney have any similarities to the partnerships in other areas?

Samantha:

Yes, so we are starting to see some themes coming out.

Samantha:

Some, there are some differences too.

Samantha:

One thing I'd say is that the Norfolk and Waveney partnership,

Samantha:

having an ICB or integrated care board lead is quite different.

Samantha:

We only have two other partnerships, and that's Humber, north Yorkshire,

Samantha:

and Cornwall, and the isles of Sly.

Samantha:

That have a similar kind of governance and setup.

Samantha:

So I'm really interested in that and particularly to see does that impact

Samantha:

governance and sustainability and decision making when we have these

Samantha:

partnerships embedded in the voluntary sector versus in NHS structures.

Samantha:

I think also the fact that there's the neighborhood fund that Norfolk Waveland

Samantha:

looking at is something, again, there's only four partnerships in total that are

Samantha:

looking at having a neighborhood fund.

Samantha:

And that's something again, I think that excites a lot of people and

Samantha:

really appealed to the panel because it, for us, it's brilliant that you've

Samantha:

got the existing infrastructure in place and the strong relationships,

Samantha:

but it's also acknowledging that kind of need for grassroots engagement,

Samantha:

broadening diversity of volunteers and that kind of true co-design.

Samantha:

So yeah, that's something that kind of.

Samantha:

It stands out as a theme for four of you, but is still quite different and

Samantha:

I think we'll all be kind of watching for that 'cause it's very exciting.

Samantha:

But I guess the main themes that are coming out at the moment is people

Samantha:

wanting to look at volunteering passports.

Samantha:

Recruitment and retention, digital platforms and influencing systems and

Samantha:

decision makers, which given the current climate with all that's happening in the

Samantha:

health system, I think is quite expected.

Samantha:

But yes, so there's quite a lot of different themes going on.

Samantha:

Something that's particularly exciting about.

Samantha:

The Norfolk and Waverley partnership is the primary care element.

Samantha:

So out of those three kind of core focus areas, looking at primary care,

Samantha:

volunteering infrastructure, and I think it aligns really nicely with

Samantha:

those three NHS shifts that we're hearing about transforming care.

Samantha:

So the focus from.

Samantha:

Hospital to community and also thinking about moving to

Samantha:

more of a preventative model.

Samantha:

Thinking about that neighborhood health and neighborhood model, we actually only

Samantha:

have one other partnership that's thinking about doing some work with primary care,

Samantha:

and that's the Summerset partnership who are working with primary care networks.

Samantha:

But I'm, I've got a lot of passion for that side of things and thinking

Samantha:

about, it's an area that maybe we've not really thought about before.

Samantha:

And volunteering infrastructure and the role of the voluntary sector with

Samantha:

primary care could be really powerful.

Samantha:

Particularly when we think about health inequalities and core 20 plus

Samantha:

five and growing volunteer diversity.

Samantha:

So yes, lots of lots of things to shout about, I think with this partnership.

Samantha:

That's all the questions that I have for you.

Samantha:

Is there anything else you'd like to add about the program?

Samantha:

I think it's, it would be helpful to say and acknowledge that there's

Samantha:

a lot going on in the volunteering space at the moment, and that's

Samantha:

locally, regionally, and nationally.

Samantha:

There are lots of big players in the arena that are making calls to action

Samantha:

and statements about what we need to be doing with volunteering, particularly

Samantha:

in the healthcare space and all.

Samantha:

I think we're a fairly quiet voice at the moment, and I think that infrastructure.

Samantha:

Isn't always the juiciest topic, but I think it's really important to acknowledge

Samantha:

that if we can get infrastructure right, particularly within this program

Samantha:

and can kind of spread and scale that across England, I think that's the

Samantha:

enabler for us to be able to achieve so much more improved outcomes, improved

Samantha:

experiences for patients and communities.

Samantha:

So yeah, that it feels like it's one layer of many different kind of transformation

Samantha:

projects that are happening at the moment in the volunteering space, but it's just.

Samantha:

Such a great opportunity to have everybody involved in it.

Sarah:

We hope you enjoy today's episode.

Sarah:

Our thanks go to Nikki and Samantha for taking the time to speak to

Sarah:

us about volunteering for health.

Sarah:

As the work continues, we'll share stories of the learning and

Sarah:

progress that the team are making.

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Please don't forget to subscribe, rate and review this podcast.

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It all helps people find us and spread the word about volunteering.

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This podcast was produced for the Norfolk Wave and the integrated care

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system by Hospital Radio Norwich.

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Hosted by Sarah Briggs, producer was Jules Odeon.

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Original music, composed and performed by Philip Aldridge, interviews

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by Sarah Briggs and Jules Odeon.

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About the Podcast

Volunteering Discovery
All about volunteering in health and care
Welcome to Volunteering Discovery, where we dig into the world of health and care volunteering in Norfolk and Waveney and hear from the people that give their time to help others. We want to banish the stereotype that health and care volunteering only means making cups of tea for patients on a ward. We know that's an important role, but there are so many other activities which make a difference that you might not know about.

In the first season of this weekly podcast, we'll start our exploration into volunteering which supports people's health and care in our hospitals, our communities and our homes. From group settings to supporting families in their own homes, volunteering isn't a one size fits all activity.

By talking to volunteers and the staff who work alongside them, we'll be finding out what it's really like to be a volunteer. Volunteers will share their stories of how they got started and what keeps them coming back.

If you have ever been interested in how local people make a difference in their spare time, or what support is available in Norfolk and Waveney, this is the show for you.

About your host

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Jules Alderson