Wigan's hospital trust celebrates work of volunteers

The Volunteer Long Service Awards event was held at Wigan Cricket Club with some of the volunteers receiving awards for 30, 40 and 45 years of incredible service

Badges and certificates were also presented to those who have given five, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years of essential service to Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL).

Emma Rogers, Associate Chief Nurse, Quality and Patient Experience attended the event and spoke on how vital WWL’s volunteers are.

She said: “At WWL volunteers make a unique and valuable contribution to our patients, visitors, and staff.

"It is recognised that volunteers are an essential part of our team and therefore it is so important that we value their individual contributions.

“It was an absolute honour to be invited to attend the Volunteer Long Service Awards which was a huge success for all that attended. It was a wonderful event and there were some lovely stories shared and some phenomenal achievements.”

A new award was also given out to two of WWL’s volunteers.

The Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Contribution was presented to both Barbara Lambert and Maurice Ward for their incredible service to WWL.

Maurice played a pivotal role in helping WWL’s Community Team during the Covid-19 pandemic as he delivered oximeters to people in the local community who were battling the illness.

During this time, Maurice helped numerous patients as the oximeters allowed them to check their oxygen levels and they could seek help if required.

Maurice said: “The award was totally unexpected - particularly since I have only been volunteering for the NHS for 18 months and I was in a room with many other dedicated volunteers collecting long service awards for up to 45 years!

“There are many other great volunteers equally worthy of such an award, but I really do value receiving this award, thank you.”

Barbara, a WWL volunteer for over two decades, was also recognised for her role in running the League of Friends at Wrightington Hospital.

Recently, Barbara and the League of Friends donated money and bought items to help with the setup of a new Discharge Lounge at Wrightington Hospital.

Barbara also helps to run a shop at Wrightington Hospital which sells a variety of products for patients and staff alongside volunteering on the front desk at the hospital.

On the award and her role as a volunteer, Barbara said: “It’s fantastic being a volunteer, it’s very rewarding and I’ve made lots of new friends.

"It was a surprise winning the award, I didn’t expect it and it really made me feel appreciated.”

Laura Milward, Voluntary Services Manager spoke on the key role volunteers like Barbara and Maurice play at WWL and thanked them for their service.

She said: “Our volunteers are heroes within our WWL workforce.

“All our volunteers’ contributions throughout the trust in helping our patients and staff, and their smiling faces and commitment to WWL is outstanding.

"I’d like to thank each and every one of them for their support, our service wouldn’t be what it is without all of