December 6, 2024

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity (LTHC) has been awarded a six-figure grant as part of Volunteering for Health – a £10 million programme being delivered in partnership by NHS England, NHS Charities Together and CW+, the official charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The three-year Volunteering for Health programme is part of NHS England’s response to the NHS Volunteering Taskforce, which brought together health charities, volunteers, clinicians, civil servants and policy makers. The Taskforce published its recommendations in June 2023, concluding that more can be done nationally and locally to maximise the benefits of volunteers and volunteering in the NHS, as a vital resource in delivering health and social care nationally and locally, whilst strengthening volunteering infrastructure.

LTHC was one of 15 partnerships across the UK to successfully bid for funding, with the awards ranging from £285,000 and £550,000. Partnerships are made up of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, NHS Trusts, integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities (LAs) and NHS charities.

Grants were awarded to applicants who were able to demonstrate how they intended to break down barriers, test new models of working and develop guidance and best practice that can be shared across the NHS and beyond.

Alongside LTHC, the successful partnership is made up of five VCSE organisations, including Community CVS, Cumbria CVS, Lancashire Association of CVS, Spring North, and Volunteer Centre Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde. The partnership intends to use the money to share volunteer policies, processes and relationships, and to standardise the way data is captured and reported. The partnership also aims to test new models of volunteering, with the creation of community volunteer health champions to support the health of children, young people, and adults by addressing health inequalities.

Daniel Hill, Head of Hospital Charities, said: “This grant will positively impact our local population and volunteering opportunities across the region. The programme will speed up change by helping to break down barriers to volunteering, support the NHS to deliver the best care possible and help us address health inequalities in our local communities. Working with local VCSE partners will enable us to reach those in most need, supporting the NHS to its 10-year vision of a shift from hospital to community, from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention.”

The grant will be paid in instalments over the next three years, until the end of June 2027. LTHC will receive an initial payment for the development phase, with an ambition to begin delivering the programme by March 2025.

Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said: “Volunteers, as partners with our skilled staff, make a significant contribution across NHS and care services and positively impact the lives of many people.

“There are currently more than 300 ways that people can volunteer for the NHS, ranging from running a hospital radio show to helping combat loneliness. This programme will further harness the power of volunteering for the benefit of patients, staff and communities.”

There are thousands of ways that people can volunteer across our communities with charities, community groups and social enterprises to improve people’s health and well-being.

For community volunteering opportunities in Cumbria please visit https://volunteering.cumbriacvs.org.uk/