Volunteers | Royal Free Charity

Volunteers

There are 20 roles that positively impact the experience of our patients

A group photos of lots of volunteers stood on a staircase.
Our volunteers make a direct and meaningful contribution to patient outcomes and experience. 

There are 20 distinct volunteer roles ranging from the practical to the pastoral, from the everyday to the innovative.

Much of the support we provide is traditionally associated with NHS volunteering: helping patients to get to their appointments in a timely manner; providing mealtime help to patients and running a daily trolley shop service. 

We also have roles have been designed to meet a specific need highlighted by trust staff and are unique to the Royal Free London community.

Two young volunteers doing crafts while sat at a table.
Jasmine and Divine are two of our young volunteers 

Volunteering in numbers – 2024/25

  • 250,000
    We helped more than 250,000 patients and visitors.
  • 52,000
    Our volunteers delivered more than 52,000 hours of volunteering.
  • 34,000
    We supported more than 34,000 staff.
  • 96%
    96% of volunteers say they are satisfied with their roles supporting patients, staff and visitors.
  • 45%
    We grew our volunteer team by 45%

Designing solutions

Patient calling volunteers

Our volunteers contact patients across all sites to remind them to attend their clinic appointments and offer pre-appointment advice.

This service was first set up to reduce the risk of marginalised communities and vulnerable patients being left behind and has now become a regular service.

The programme has reduced the number of patients missing appointments, saving the NHS many hours of professional time.

Art tours

We’ve designed a volunteer-led guided tour of the artwork on display at the Royal Free Hospital to encourage increased physical activity of patients, leading to faster rehabilitation and recuperation.

Helping vulnerable patients

While the support our volunteers provide is wide-ranging, there are some areas that can be singled out for their impact on vulnerable patients:

Children’s school

A team of 6 volunteers and two therapy dogs support the Royal Free Hospital children’s school. Rated excellent by Ofsted, the school provides education for children and young adults who are unable to access regular schooling due to their physical or mental health needs.

Dementia companions

On the wards, our dementia companion volunteers offer conversation and activities that make a big difference to the experience of patients with dementia, providing much needed stimulation and reducing distress. 

Music and art therapy

We run a variety of dementia-focused music and art therapy sessions on the wards while our team of radio volunteers – Royal Free Radio - broadcasts sundown sessions, specially curated to ease the late evening agitation often experienced by patients with dementia.

Two women sat at a table knitting.

Make a donation

If you would like to help us continue to provide this service to patients, you can make a donation. Thank you so much for your support.

Donate