Christmas lunch to say thank you to volunteers at Peterborough’s Sue Ryder hospice

Volunteers came together at the hospice in Longthorpe for a special Christmas afternoon tea with homemade cakes to recognise their contribution and achievements in 2019.

At the hospice, around 300 volunteers provide support such as working on the wards, supporting patients, doing gardening and maintenance, manning the hospice’s coffee shop, administration and fundraising.

As well as human volunteers, the hospice also has four-legged ones – several furry Pets as Therapy dogs – who spend time on the wards meeting patients and their families.

Tina Parkinson, volunteer engagement lead at Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice, said: “A huge thank you to all of our volunteers for giving us their time and skills during 2019. We are lucky to have around 300 volunteers who carry out a variety of vital roles, from helping out on our specialist inpatient unit, in day services, the coffee shop, fundraising, providing bereavement support for families and offering complementary therapies.

“This year, we celebrated two of our volunteers raising £100,000 for our hospice through bucket collections. Volunteers have supported our day services members to swim 160 lengths and bake 728 cakes this year! And six of our brilliant coffee shop volunteers have been volunteering with us for over 15 years each.

“Without our volunteers we wouldn’t be able to do what we do and provide our compassionate care. Thank you for being there when it matters for patients and their families.”

Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice is searching for new volunteers to join them in 2020. There are a variety of roles available to suit a range of skills, from the inpatient unit to day services, administration, coffee shop, gardening, meeting and greeting and receptionists.

To find out more about the latest volunteer opportunities at the hospice, visit sueryder.org/volunteer or call Tina Parkinson at the hospice on 01733 225 900.