I’m so moved by your stories

3rd August 2019

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I love the NHS – it brings so much to our country and it is always there for us. That’s why I’m delighted so many have risen to the call to support our NHS by giving back some of their time.

The history of volunteering in the NHS is as old as the health service itself. Millions of men and women have helped the NHS care for us.

Volunteers do the often less visible, but equally vital jobs, from holding the hands of patients during surgery, to driving patients, serving food and drinks, and the everyday small acts of kindness that make a great difference to the lives of patients and the smooth-running of our NHS.

We all have a personal bond with the NHS, whether the memory of the birth of a child, or the care given to a loved one in our moment of need. Volunteering strengthens those bonds because our relationship with the health service is more than just as a taxpayer or service user. After all, we should think not just of what the NHS can do for us, but what we can do for the NHS.

This brilliant campaign has proved that the British people believe in playing their part to make the health service the best it possibly can be. Every one of the Helpforce volunteers is a hero. We all have busy lives, juggling work with family and other responsibilities, and yet these volunteers have managed to find the time to give back to their local communities.

I’ve been incredibly moved by the stories of people going back to help the doctors and nurses at the hospital where their life, or the life of a loved one, was saved. By supporting staff and taking the time to sit with patients to talk and listen to them, the army of NHS volunteers provide an invaluable service and give back our hardworking doctors and nurses the gift of time – time to do what they do best: care for us.

Read the full article in the Daily Mail