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Transforming healthcare volunteering

Guided by our vision of a nation where volunteering is integral to healthcare at its very best, we partner with hundreds of UK healthcare organisations – unleashing the power of volunteers to deliver measurable benefits for patients, staff, and service users.
Our Back to Health campaign has exceeded its target

We helped +1M people through our trailblazing 'Back to Health' initiative

Our three-year Back to Health campaign, launched in 2022, has crossed its finishing line with a fantastic result, supporting more than 1 million people.This campaign aimed to create opportunities that enable volunteers to provide high-impact support to patients, healthcare staff, and people in their local communities. And we are proud of the legacy that it has created.
We have helped
910954
patients
130850
staff
77677
volunteers
103
organisations
Volunteers in a row BDNHFT
Spotlight news

Voluntary Sector Recognition in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan: An Encouraging Step Forward

We at Helpforce are pleased that the Government's has recognised the importance of healthcare volunteering in the long-awaited NHS 10-Year Health Plan, which has been unveiled today.

Neighbourhood Health Services are to be rolled out across the country, bringing diagnostics, mental health, post-op, rehab, and nursing to people’s doorsteps – and it's envisaged that volunteers will play a meaningful role in these teams.

Our services

We work like a consultancy, and will start our partnership by finding out more about the challenges organisations face. Once we understand their situation, we will work with them to deliver volunteering solutions that help meet their challenges.

Find out more about our services below.

Developing volunteering services

Our expert team takes organisations through a tried and tested consultation process – Adopt and Adapt – to establish volunteer services that tackle their organisational challenges, fit their situation, and optimise integration between health and community services.

Building future workforce

We help organisations build and maintain their workforces through our Helpforce Volunteer to Career programme™, which allows people to explore a career in health and care, while volunteering.

Evaluating volunteers' impact

We build robust assessments into all our partnership projects and can evaluate other volunteering services. We have built up a unique bank of over 230 evidence findings.

Sharing volunteering expertise through the Helpforce Network

The Helpforce Network is a free online peer community for professionals from statutory and voluntary sector organisations with an interest in volunteering in health and care. Members join the Network to share their knowledge, learn from their peers and find practical support and resources - helping them to improve their volunteering management practice

Case studies

Eunice Somade head and shoulders

Eunice's story

Mahmuda Khanum dietition training d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e

Mahmuda's story

Eunice Somade loved her job at Lagos University Teaching Hospital but she and her family were in daily fear of frequent violence, kidnappings, and threats in the city. She came to the UK in 2022 knowing it would not be easy to gain work in the NHS - but thanks to a unique ‘Volunteer to Career’ programme, she now applies her 27 years’ experience to caring for the elderly as a hospital staff nurse.
Mahmuda Khanum never imagined she could land a job in the NHS after spending years working for a debt collection company, but thanks to a unique ‘Volunteer to Career’ programme she is now close to becoming a dietician.
Chetan full length

Chetan's story

Volunteer Drivers NHS Hartlepool

Volunteers drivers save trust £200k

Chetan Bhakri optimises what it means to donate the gift of time to help others. A busy full-time software consultant, he could be forgiven for kicking-back in front of the tv of a weekend or relaxing with friends. But instead, the 50-year-old from New Malden puts on his volunteer uniform every Saturday and Sunday night and reports for duty at Kingston Hospital.

With a smile that radiates kindness, Chetan helps out in the hospital’s busy emergency department where he’s considered a key part of the team.

Helpforce's evaluation of the volunteer drivers service at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust has shown that the service saved the trust more than £200,000 over a decade, against the cost of taxis. The service, which started with only eight drivers, has now grown to 28 drivers, providing invaluable support to patients and staff.

Our partners

We collaborate with diverse organisations across the healthcare system, from Integrated Health Boards and individual NHS Trusts, to social care groups and hospices. Take a look at some of our partners below.

Hospice UK 2024
One Gloucestershire Logo
Cornwall ICB logo
New castle Trust
Copy of Kingston private health

Contact us

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