Volunteering

Volunteering for us

Volunteers play an important role in our Trust by providing non-clinical support to our healthcare professionals.

To volunteer you must be over 18 and live locally. We cover the boroughs of Merton, Sutton, Kingston, Richmond and Wandsworth and recruit people from a wide range of backgrounds.

Why volunteer?

People volunteer for lots of reasons:

To support their local Mental Health NHS Trust
to meet people and make new friends
to learn or refresh their skills

How much time can I give?

Most volunteering roles are between three and six hours once per week. This can vary depending on the type of volunteering you choose.

What type of volunteering could I do?

We have a variety of roles including:

Chaplaincy volunteering
Meeter / Greeter volunteering escorting people round our site at Springfield Hospital, this is part of our service user volunteering programme
PAT Dog/Cat if you have a registered PAT dog or cat we would love to hear from you
Befriending sitting and chatting with our patients. This can be extremely rewarding to both the volunteer and patient.
Buddying meeting up with patients out in the community for coffee, shopping etc in public areas
A limited amount of admin / clerical and information and management and technology (IM andT) support volunteering, these are mainly reserved for our patient volunteering programme to help with work prep skills

Will volunteering cost me anything?

No, we will reimburse a reasonable amount of travelling expenses (against actual receipts) and provide subsidised lunch if you volunteer for more than six hours and over the lunch period.

How long can I volunteer?

Obviously, we want you to stay with us as long as possible but a minimum of six months is desirable. When you have completed six months or more, we are normally happy to provide a reference for you for future college courses or employment, if required.