Volunteers from across Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust are coming together on Wednesday 7 June for a celebratory afternoon tea at the Mercure Hotel in Bingley.

The annual event, taking place in the NHS’s 75th year during Volunteers Week, is an opportunity for Trust staff to show their appreciation for all the hard work and dedication of local people who give up their time to volunteer.

Volunteers will also be joined by the Chief Executive at the Care Trust, Therese Patten and Trust Chair, Dr Linda Patterson OBE to celebrate the hard work they do. Over the last two years the Care Trust has invested in their volunteers’ programmes with the numbers of volunteers reaching 200 for the first time.

Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust’s Head of Charity and Volunteering, Catherine Jowitt, said: “We are grateful to our volunteers for everything they do every day all year round, Volunteers Week gives us the opportunity to bring volunteers and staff together to say thank you and celebrate the amazing impact our volunteers have on the people in our communities, patients by enhancing the care we are able to offer.”

The NHS Trust also helps people who have been unwell to volunteer as part of their recovery, supports people to begin careers in the NHS through the ‘Volunteer to Career’ programme. It also enables people to volunteer who want to give back to the NHS by offering their time to support others.

One volunteer at the Care Trust, Patricia, said: “I volunteer in the baby clinic at Wrose Health Centre, and I absolutely love it. I wish I’d done it years ago.”

Patricia became a volunteer in the community baby clinics after she was made redundant from her job as a project manager with a major supermarket chain. She decided to have a complete career change and pursue her dream of becoming a nurse.

Roles within the Care Trust vary from supporting people who are lonely and isolated in the community with wellbeing activities and walks, through to supporting new mums in baby clinics and people who are staying within the Trust’s mental health hospitals with therapeutic activity.

To find out more about volunteering with Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, visit: www.bdct.nhs.uk/get-involved/volunteering.