Thank You Day this Sunday: Thank you to all of our volunteers

July 2, 2021

Sunday 4 July is national Thank You Day, which encourages everyone to give thanks to those who have helped us over the last year.

Sue Edwards, Bereavement Lead Nurse would like to thank her team of volunteers who have been supporting bereaved families from the Trust.

“Over the last year the pandemic has affected everyone in so many ways, not least the bereaved families of those patients who have sadly passed away. This has been devastating for the relatives of those patients, some who had the added burden of dealing with multiple losses, even losing both parents to the virus, and this has been compounded by the lack of social contact as a result of the lockdowns over the last year.

“As a Trust, we felt we still had a responsibility to provide aftercare for the bereaved relatives, so we developed a bereavement service which is made up of seven of our incredible volunteers. Our volunteers started off by checking in and carrying out wellbeing calls to those bereaved families who told us they would like our support. The families who have lost loved ones throughout the pandemic have felt so desperately isolated and our volunteers have made such a big difference to them ensuring they do not feel so alone in their grief. They have lent a sympathetic ear and for some people have been their only point of contact throughout the pandemic. It’s so heart-warming to see how our volunteers have built these incredible connections with the families and are able to make them feel less alone. They have also been able to signpost them to other areas where they need more support, such as charitable organisations to help them smile through some difficult times and think about the future.

“So I want to say a huge heartfelt thank you to our incredible volunteers, who give so much of themselves and who have been on a journey with us to make such a difference to those families.”