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 

Designing solutions

Digital volunteers

Our digital volunteers contact patients of the Royal Free Hospital’s sleep and ventilation clinic to offer pre-appointment advice. 

This service was set up to reduce the risk of marginalised communities and vulnerable patients being left behind. 

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

A man smiling at the camera while holding a VR headset.
Serhat Kerakas is one of our volunteers who is trained to give VR therapy to patients 

Virtual reality therapy

Our volunteers have been trained to deliver virtual reality therapy to Royal Free London staff to reduce stress and anxiety as part of a charity-funded wellbeing initiative. 

The success of this project has led us to extend this support to patients receiving chemotherapy at Chase Farm and Finchley Memorial hospitals.

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.

  • 18,000
    Our volunteers support, on average, more than 18,000 patients each month.
  • 38,132
    In 2023, our volunteers contributed 38,132 hours of their time.
A group photos of lots of volunteers stood on a staircase.

In 2023:

Barnet Hospital’s 70 volunteers contributed 4,749 hours

Chase Farm Hospital has 58 volunteers who contributed 4,062 hours

Royal Free Hospital’s 308 volunteers contributed 27,608 hours

27 volunteers covering our satellite sites contributed 1,713 hours

We now have 472 volunteers and 17 therapy dogs

Our impact

  • 18,000
    Our volunteers support, on average, more than 18,000 patients each month.
  • 38,132
    In 2023, our volunteers contributed 38,132 hours of their time.
A group photos of lots of volunteers stood on a staircase.

In 2023:

Barnet Hospital’s 70 volunteers contributed 4,749 hours

Chase Farm Hospital has 58 volunteers who contributed 4,062 hours

Royal Free Hospital’s 308 volunteers contributed 27,608 hours

27 volunteers covering our satellite sites contributed 1,713 hours

We now have 472 volunteers and 17 therapy dogs

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 12 volunteers and two therapy dogs supports 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.

Without the Royal Free Charity’s volunteers, we couldn’t take as many children as we do, and we certainly couldn’t provide the service that we do.”

– Royal Free Hospital children’s school headteacher 

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.