This month, the country is celebrating 75 years of the NHS, after the National Health Service was officially founded on 5 July 1948.

To celebrate, Voluntary Action Leeds will be sharing some stories from colleagues and partner organisations, sharing personal experiences of the NHS throughout the years and to the present day!

Sarah Rogers is a trustee of Voluntary Action Leeds and works at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as the Improvement Lead – Volunteer Workforce. She’s shared what her role involves and what she loves about it:

“I’ve worked at Leeds Teaching Hospitals since October 2018. It was quite a move, as I’ve always previously worked in the voluntary and community sector. The NHS is gigantic and in some ways I think I’m still getting my head around the structure, the complexity and the acronyms, which always come with working any sector but I’ve learned lots of new ones!

“My passion is volunteering and at the time of joining Leeds Teaching Hospitals, I’d say that the profile of NHS volunteers was quite low. I was quite overwhelmed in my first few months. As I met volunteers and asked them what motivated them to volunteer in their local NHS Trust their responses were varied but all very moving.

“I can honestly say that every one of our volunteers has a genuine passion and compassion for the NHS and the people we care for. Many of our volunteers have had a personal experience of our care, many have been carers and many are the next generation of staff looking after our citizens.

“I take great pride in leading the volunteer workforce at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and my role is to shout about the positive impact of volunteering for our patients, our organisation and our volunteers, and creating a culture of volunteering that is inclusive and supportive.”

Do you have a memory of the NHS to share? Get in touch at news@val.org.uk

Voluntary Action Leeds

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