Meet our Volunteers

Listen to our Volunteer Coordinator, David, talk about the importance of volunteers to Healthwatch Cheshire:

Below you can read and watch some of our volunteers talking about their experiences of volunteering with Healthwatch Cheshire.

Erica

Ros

Casey

Why do I do it? I have been asked this question so many times around why I volunteer with Healthwatch Cheshire. The truth is I took part in a college workshop looking at the NHS Long Term Plan hosted by some of the Healthwatch Cheshire team. Their energy and their way of being involved in the community really impressed me and I wanted to know more about what I could do if I volunteered for them. As a college student I needed to gain more experience in health and social care and I felt that volunteering for Healthwatch Cheshire could give me the most experience in the sector. I contacted the Volunteer Coordinator David; he came to the college and explained thoroughly what I could do and be involved in.

A couple of weeks later I took part in the Enter and View training as this intrigued me, I had my DBS done and received the training and support that helped so much. I then went on two shadow visits with experienced representatives and really got to see what to do and how to fill in reports. I really enjoyed looking into the standards of care, being able to meet and speak with the ward managers/care home managers and the staff, family and residents. Listening to them and their stories was amazing, listening to their views, especially on their concerns or compliments on the service being provided and then making sure that the management were aware of these. I also produced reports that were documented on the visits I had undertaken and then they would be sent to the providers and commissioners.

I have taken every opportunity to gain more experience whilst being a volunteer with Healthwatch Cheshire, including working in the main office gaining administration skills, safeguarding training, mental health training and I have also just completed an e-learning module on suicide awareness. All of this is something that I would never had got to experience without the support from Healthwatch Cheshire. The team are very supportive and helpful and I cannot give them enough thanks for everything they have helped me to accomplish. I could mention so much more like around the community engagement, experiencing my first Pride event, PLACE and being part of a team.

I love volunteering but most of all being able to help communities and strive for the best that services can be.

Bev and Amy

When we began to volunteer for Healthwatch we were originally volunteering at the Winsford Work Zone. It was here that we first met Jackie, a Community Engagement and Project Officer from Healthwatch Cheshire. When we were asked if we would like to volunteer, we jumped at the chance as it sounded so interesting. We began by carrying out engagement sessions within the community. Amy and I have always liked engaging with people and began to really enjoy talking to people again. We now do an engagement stand in Winsford on a regular basis once a month.

We collect views all over Cheshire and if we cannot get transport the Healthwatch team or Volunteer Coordinator will assist to ensure we can be involved, which is good as we can do more with Healthwatch.

We have done courses and training that help us in working with Healthwatch. We have conducted Enter and View visits, this allows us to enter care homes and hospitals as well as GP Practices to assess their services, and write reports and make recommendations on things that need improving. It was through Healthwatch Cheshire that we have become involved with Pride and we have attended a number of these events across Cheshire. It is very colourful and great fun. We found A&E Watch really enjoyable; staff and volunteers really help each other out at these sorts of events. We have carried a refresher course on safeguarding as we had previously received training.

This was very rewarding and interesting. We have completed PLACE training, which was provided by the training teams at individual hospitals in our area. This enabled us to enter wards in hospitals and assess what could be improved. The Volunteer Coordinator is always in touch to see how we are and to offer training courses, such as safeguarding and blood pressure readings. The latest training Amy and I took part in was around Mental Health. This was a day course and was eye-opening to me and really increased my understanding. There is so much more we can learn and look forward to our next steps at Healthwatch.

The staff at Healthwatch are lovely, friendly and welcoming people who are always willing to help you in any way they can. If you are looking for an enjoyable place to volunteer, I would definitely recommend Healthwatch. No two days are the same and you are always meeting new people.

Carlie

Shaheryar

We also sat down with two of our other volunteers, Jane and Jannat, who told us about their experience volunteering with Healthwatch Cheshire:

If you would like more information on how you can join the team, click here: