Celebrating our volunteers
10th June 2025 • NewsVolunteers’ Week is an annual event celebrating the positive impact of volunteers. At Newcastle Hospitals Charity our team of 222 volunteers contributed over 37,000 hours last year. Working in a variety of roles across Newcastle Hospitals – and in the community – they share their time, skills and experience to support staff, patients and visitors.We were pleased that so many of our volunteers could join us at a celebration event to mark Volunteers’ Week. Hosted by Newcastle Hospitals’ Acting Chief Executive, Rob Harrison, the event gave us an opportunity to celebrate and say thank you to our volunteers who continue to go above and beyond every day.
Long service awards
As well as saying thank you we were delighted to be able to present some long service awards.
- Alan Hawkins – volunteer driver – 5 years
- Bill Colbeck – volunteer driver – 5 years
- Ingrid Kerr – meet and greet volunteer RVI – 10 years
- Jen Appleby – retail volunteer – 10 years
- Lesley Finnigan – retail volunteer -10 years
- Walter Purvis – meet and greet – 10 years
Special awards
We also presented some very special awards.
Jude Akpan – Jude is an emergency department volunteer and as a former doctor in Nigeria, he has recently passed a series of tests required by the GMC to enable him to practice in the UK.
Pam Yanis – Pam is stepping down as a trust Governor and has been a huge support, not only as a Governor but also as a volunteer. Pam was a volunteer throughout the pandemic and then latterly supporting the emergency department.
Pat Dodds – Pat is our longest serving volunteer. Now 93, Pat has been volunteering since 1977 when the Freeman opened. Until late last year Pat came to the Freeman Hospital twice a week, she visited patients on elderly care wards and was also a meet and greet volunteer. Pat is stepping down from her volunteer duties after a amazing 48 years.
Thank you to all our volunteers for everything you do.
We have a number of opportunities to get involved in volunteering with Newcastle Hospitals Charity. Information about our current volunteer roles is available on our website, you can also find out more about our corporate and event volunteer opportunities.
