Heartbeat: Volunteers in a league of their own

July 18, 2018

Nearly half a million pounds has been raised by the dedicated volunteers group League of Friends over the past 13 years, it was revealed at its recent annual general meeting (AGM).

Chairwoman, Janet Dearn commended the volunteers within the service for their efforts in raising a staggering £485,994.54, before announcing that she would be stepping down from her position after 13 years in the role.

Paying tribute to her colleagues, she said: “This is my last AGM as chair as I think someone else should take over the reins. I want to thank everyone for all their time and hard work as well as their friendship. There is nothing in this world as big as the heart of a volunteer.”

She added: “It gives me great satisfaction to give something back to society and that applies to most of our volunteers.

“Even though I’m stepping down as chair, I will still continue my shift at the League of Friends shop every Tuesday and Friday.”

Mrs Dearn started as a volunteer around 20 years ago, and became vice chair in 1998. She took over the main job seven years later. “It was then that we started keeping tally of how much money we were raising,” she explained.

“We used to get requests for very basic things back then, like razors, hairdryers and TVs. But now that has certainly changed and we are buying much bigger pieces of equipment.”

At the start of the meeting Mrs Dearn revealed how the League of Friends had raised just over £45,000 in 2017/18, funding 15 projects in total.

Equipment purchased includes reminisce therapy software for patients treated on the Eliza Tinsley ward at Rowley Regis Hospital, voice amplifiers for the speech and language therapy department and arts and crafts material for the children’s ward.

“We provide such a wide range of equipment and it is a great achievement – none of this could have been possible without the time and dedication from our volunteers,” added Mrs Dearn.

“We still receive lots of thanks from the departments, and every single penny raised must be used for the benefit of the patients.”

During the AGM, Johnny Shah, Head of Your Trust Charity, presented Mrs Dearn with a bunch of flowers and a certificate of appreciation for the League of Friends’ fundraising efforts over the past year.

He said: “It’s the hard work of volunteers, their time and sacrifice, that helps the League of Friends fund essential equipment needs for our departments.

“I also want to say a personal thank you to Janet for her own dedication and commitment over the past 40 years, during her time as a volunteer and as chair.”