Can volunteers help mental health patients return home with confidence?

That is the question being explored by teams at Helpforce and West London NHS Trust.

A pioneering new service has launched by the two organisations last month is testing how volunteers can support older mental health patients as they prepare to leave hospital and rebuild confidence in returning to community life.

The initiative focuses on one of the NHS’s most persistent and complex challenges: delayed discharge. While patients in acute hospital settings are often eager to return home as quickly as possible, the situation can be very different in mental health care.

For many people living with complex mental health conditions, leaving hospital can feel overwhelming. Concerns about coping alone, losing support networks, or returning to isolation can make discharge deeply anxiety-inducing. In some cases, patients remain in inpatient care for a year or more before they feel ready, or able to transition back into the community.

Now, this new volunteering role hopes to change that and support a more seamless community focus from hospital.

Maeve Hully, Director of Volunteering at Helpforce, said the programme has been carefully designed to meet the unique emotional and practical needs of mental health patients.

“We are thrilled to partner with West London NHS Trust to demonstrate the impact of this role,” she said. “The discharge volunteers on a mental health unit will be quite different from those in acute settings.”

Rather than focusing solely on speeding up the discharge process, volunteers will work gradually alongside patients to build confidence, reduce anxiety, and reconnect them with support in the community.

The pilot currently supports older adults with mental health challenges - a group for whom discharge can be especially difficult. According to anecdotal feedback from service managers, some patients become so fearful about coping outside hospital that they may subconsciously, or even consciously, undermine their own discharge plans. The ward’s goal, Maeve said, is simple but powerful: to help patients recover and return either to their own homes or to suitable residential placements.

“This role is more of a slow burner,” she added. “It’s about building trust, offering encouragement, linking people with local community support, and helping them feel more confident about life beyond the ward.”

At West London NHS Trust, staff believe the connection volunteers provide could become an important part of recovery.

Rashpal Saini, Volunteer Service Manager at the trust, said:

“When volunteers spend time with patients, they help bridge the gap between hospital and home in a way clinical teams simply don’t have the capacity to do. That steady presence can make the idea of going home feel achievable rather than frightening”.

Karl Collins, Service Manager at West London NHS Trust said:

“Recovery isn’t just about treatment, it’s about confidence. Volunteers help patients rediscover their strengths, reconnect with the world outside, and take those first steps back into their own lives.”

The role will be evaluated in March 2027, when we will assess its impact on patient wellbeing, discharge experiences, and potential reductions in readmission rates.

If successful, the initiative could offer a new model for how volunteers help bridge the gap between hospital and home in mental health care, proving that sometimes, recovery begins with reassurance, connection, and simply having someone by your side.