The Trust celebrates national volunteers’ week
The Trust held an event this week to celebrate its valued volunteers as part of national volunteers’ week.
Held at Fieldhead in Wakefield, the celebration featured speeches by Trust chair Ian Black, head of volunteering services Jane Milner and from volunteers themselves about their experiences.
We currently have 185 volunteers across Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield working 2126 hours a week.
Volunteers were also presented with plaques by Patricia Kiss from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and Dawn Stephenson, director of corporate development at the Trust, after gaining an NCVO investors in volunteering award.
Volunteers’ week is an annual event which takes place at the start of June and celebrates the contribution made by millions of volunteers across the UK. It’s run by NCVO in partnership with Volunteer Development Scotland, Volunteer Now (Northern Ireland) and Wales Council for Voluntary Action.
Jane Milner said: “Our volunteers are very important and they deserve to be celebrated.
“The Trust has a diverse set of volunteers that enhance our services and communities by providing their expertise and skills. Volunteering helps people increase their wellbeing, confidence and skills, and enables people to live well in their community.”
As part of the celebrations there was a buffet, a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses in Wakefield and drawn by Sara Bordoley of NHS England, a tombola, a bake off competition and live music.
Alison Moreton is a volunteer at the Mental Health Museum in Wakefield. She’s worked there since 2013 but has nine years of experience with the Trust, both volunteering and using the services herself.
“Volunteering makes a huge difference. It’s a wonderful experience.
“It’s a good chance to do something different, even it’s something I wouldn’t consider doing. There are so many different roles for people with different skills.
“It’s good to be a volunteer in a place where it’s fine to talk about having mental health problems. My experiences are really valued. There’s nothing quite like having lived through it yourself.”
Cynthia Binns works as a volunteer at the Trust’s Wakefield recovery college. She’s been a volunteer in various forms for 30 years.
“I personally lost a lot of confidence in my own abilities a few years ago when I was in between jobs. I saw the recovery college advertised and I thought I would go along and have a nose, even though I hadn’t heard of it. And it was such an inspiring place. Being part of it has given me my confidence back.
“Volunteering is not what you do, but what you get from it. It’s just so rewarding”.
South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides community, mental health and learning disability services to the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. The Trust also provides some medium secure (forensic) services to the whole of Yorkshire and the Humber.
If you would like to volunteer for South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, contact volunteer@swyt.nhs.uk or 01924 327460. Or visit our volunteering page.
We would like to thank Empire restaurant, Kate Rusby, Lasting Beauty, Cannon Hall farm, Wakefield Wildcats, Options hair salon, Debbie Taylor and Mary Duggan who all donated prizes for the raffle and tombola.
