Royal Free Charity young volunteer Malavika Bangera was awarded ‘Volunteer of the Year’ at the Royal Free London Oscars awards on Wednesday 20th of June.
Malavika has been volunteering with the charity for 2 years and received the top volunteering honour for her work using music to make a significant impact on the hospital experience for patients and visitors. She has played for many patients with dementia learning songs from patient’s childhoods that encourages them to sit up, clap, sing along and suggest new songs. She has secured a place to study Medicine at Kings College London from September, and is a true ambassador for the NHS and youth social action. Royal Free Charity CEO Chris Burghes said: “Young people are such an important part of our volunteering programme and it is fantastic to see a wonderful young lady recognised for her hard work and commitment.” Barnet Hospital Charity volunteer Sue Young was awarded runner up for her tireless work with patients at Barnet Hospital. Sue has been volunteering at the hospital for 19 years supporting patients on a weekly basis in the cardiology ward, fundraising in the community and plays an important role in the running of the monthly Lindsey Café for elderly and dementia patients. Nearly 300 members of staff, including nurses, cleaners, doctors, midwives, porters, and clinical support staff, volunteers and charity staff, attended the Oscars ceremony. Throughout the evening more than 30 awards were handed out to staff who had made a significant contribution to patient care and the life of the Royal Free London in 2017. Barnet Hospital Charity Community Fundraiser Carla Bispham was awarded a high commendation for her outstanding contribution to the Royal Free Charity. Carla works tirelessly at Barnet Hospital and in the community going above and beyond to improve every patients experience through fundraising for specific pieces of equipment or to improve different areas in the hospital, organising events and taking the time to listen to the needs of patients and staff. To see a full list of the winners visit - https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/news-media/news/celebrating-our-world-class-winners-at-the-royal-free-london-annual-awards/
1 Comment
Maureen Brown - Barnet Hospital Charity SatNav Guide Volunteer
Volunteers have many different motivations for why they choose to give their time to help others. For some it’s a way for them to support their local community or to gain experience in a work place or, like Barnet Hospital volunteer Maureen Brown, to say thank you to those who have helped them. Maureen has been a volunteer at Barnet Hospital for 17 years. She started off as a chaplaincy volunteer then moved to the reception desk and is now a SatNav Guide helping patient’s find their way around the hospital. “The Royal Free saved my life. I was completely paralyzed and spent 5 months on the high dependency unit. With the help of the amazing staff at the Royal Free I have done very well. Volunteering is my way of saying thank you,” said Maureen. Maureen is a qualified accountant and worked in the computer industry helping companies to use accountancy software when it first became available. After being made redundant and being struck down by illness she lost a lot of confidence. By volunteering she was able to come out of her shell again and rebuild that confidence. “When I was on the reception desk people couldn’t see my wheelchair, but once we were moved from behind the reception desk to the new SatNav role I had to approach people and felt very shy. But I stuck at it and really came out of my shell,” said Maureen. Maureen used to live in Hampstead but for the past 20 years has lived in Barnet and wanted to help give something back to her local hospital. |