Vibe project

This exciting project provided over 600 new volunteering opportunities for young people aged 16 -25, to help them gain an insight into the healthcare profession.

To make the volunteering opportunities accessible to as many interested young people as possible, special short term opportunities were created so that young people could volunteer during the school holidays.

Many of the short term volunteering opportunities were created by the full and part-time Vibe volunteers who were able to volunteer during term times. They held a Halloween festival for patients on the rehabilitation ward, with games and activities that helped with their co-ordination and balance. The patients enjoyed themselves so much, and the staff were so impressed, that the volunteers returned at Christmas with cards and befriending, as well as transporting patients to the carol service in the chapel.

These short term, holiday opportunities were extremely popular and over 100 young people volunteered their holiday time during the Summer of Service project. Partners in the project CSV, felt the Summer of Service to be such a success that they are running it again this year.

A series of eight workshops on Leadership and volunteering were run by Attend Academy for the volunteers. The course was accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management and covered topics such as fundraising and team-building.

So far more than 30 of the volunteers have received vfifty certificates in recognition of 50 hours of voluntary service, which can be included on CVs for university and job applications and twelve are working towards gaining a Youth Achievement Award. The Youth Achievement Awards were set up as a means of recognising and accrediting young people's achievements, you can find out more about these awards at www.ukyouth.org

Of the 51 volunteers who have completed their volunteering with the Vibe project, 10 have gone in to another volunteering role, nine into employment, one into training and 25 are continuing their education. Over 100 are still volunteering at the hospital.

A time line of key achievements

January 2008 – Vibe Steering Group and 8 members of the YAT gave a PowerPoint presentation highlighting their achievements throughout the year and what they envisaged to be the next steps for the YAT as Vibe moves into the 2^nd year.

May – Kate Grimes, CEO of Queen Mary’s Hospital and a number of the Executive Management Team took time out of their board meeting to meet up with volunteers to thank them for their contribution and support to the hospital.   At the event volunteers who took part in the Fit4Future project were presented with certificates.

June – The Department of Health published the consultation paper ‘Towards a strategy to support volunteering in health and social care: Consultation’  The paper contained a Case Study about a Vibe volunteer at Queen Mary’s Hospital

August – Kate Grimes CEO invited volunteers to a thank you coffee morning

September – Along with staff at Queen Mary’s Hospital volunteers at Vibe where presented with NHS 60^th Anniversary pens. 

October – Press releases were drafted to send to the local press to highlight volunteer’s contribution towards the 'Make A Difference Day.'

October – Top consultants and junior Doctors gave up their time to take part and support the MedTime event.  The day was opened by Lorraine Knight, Deputy Chief Executive and Kate King, Acting Director of Nursing, both of whom thanked the participants for their contribution within the hospital.

November – Vibe volunteers were included in one of the Bexley Primary Care Trust Newsletters acknowledging how the participants from the Aphasia Unit have enjoyed the company of younger volunteers and highlighted the added benefit of partnership work.

December – The Vibe volunteers who help the Aphasia and Stroke groups were invited to their Christmas Party.  2 of the volunteers were also presented with NHS 60^th Anniversary pen sets.

January 2009 – The success of the MedTime event was written up in the QM Live magazine which is distributed around the hospital for Staff, Patients and Visitors. 

Outcomes

Exciting opportunities experienced by volunteers over the last 12 months

• The Publicity Team – A group of volunteers were instrumental in choosing the name of the new vinvolved Project, designing the logo and leaflets for the project. 
• Xmas Elves – A youth led project setup and organised by volunteers to visit and deliver a Christmas card to every single patient on the wards.  The project enabled 30 volunteers to experience what it is like up on the wards for the very first time and also meet up with a large number of Vibe Volunteers.
• Leap-A-Head – Volunteering within the Occupational Therapy Department supporting staff in a new pilot project whereby children are brought together to help work on their co-ordination skills.

Community Impacts

• The Publicity Team worked together coming up with ideas, drawings and visions making sure that the name of the project would be attractable to other young people.  A volunteer also had the role of designing a logo that complemented the ideas of the publicity team. A leaflet involving volunteers was also created to promote the project.  To enable the leaflet to be all inclusive a visually impaired leaflet was also designed. 
• Xmas Elves was a project identified by a volunteer who has been regularly volunteering on the wards supporting and befriending patients.  All 250 patients within Queen Mary’s Hospital would receive a personally signed Christmas card from a volunteer. 
• Leap-A-Head is a movement group for children aged between 5-7years and 8-11years who find it difficult to perform large body movements. The main aim of the group is to help these children develop skills and confidence with their basic movements as needed in P.E., recreational games and sports.  The sessions last for a period of 6 weeks at a time, each group has 2 volunteers supporting no more than 4 children at a time. 

Case Study of a Volunteer

To find out more about v, the youth volunteering charity visit their website by clicking here. Alternatively, if you are interested in volunteering in the Vibe project please email getthevibe@csv.org.uk with your details.