League of Friends of Eastbourne Hospital officially known as ‘The Friends of the Eastbourne Hospitals’
Themes
- Working in Partnership
- Fundraising for the Hospital
- Access to employment through partnership working
‘Volunteers bridge the gap between the hospital and the community and act as good ambassadors especially at times of bad publicity in the local press’
(Pam Love: Secretary, League of Friends)
The League of Friends of Eastbourne Hospital is more than fifty years old and enjoys a close working relationship with East Sussex Hospital Trust who provide an office, phone and access to IT. They work closely with the Voluntary Services Co-ordinator, Corrine France, and both the League and the Trust recruit volunteers in the local community. The Trust is responsible for selecting, checking and placing volunteers throughout the hospital and there are approximately 1000 volunteers across two sites. Because of the close working relationship it is sometimes difficult to distinguish whether a volunteer sees themselves as a Trust or a League volunteer, and is not seen as important within the hospital setting.
Fundraising for the Hospital
The League of Friends raises money for the hospital and community and contributes an average of £500,000 to the annual spend on equipment, most of which is spent within the District General Hospital. Purchases can range from a costly image intensifier for the radiology department to chairs for waiting areas.
Each year the Friends have a particular project or item of equipment as a fund-raising target, according to the needs of the Trust. This is usually around £200,000 per year and has included completely equipping the newly built resuscitation room for the improved Emergency Department in 2000/2001, equipment for improved treatment of cataracts in 2002 and in 2005 an image transfer video link for the Cardiac Intervention Laboratory at the Eastbourne DGH to provide direct, secure transmission of angiogram images to the Sussex Cardiac Centre in Brighton.
The income raised by the League of Friends comes from several sources
- Donations and legacies which are unpredictable from year to year
- Fundraising activities arranged by the League of Friends (annual fete, raffles, coffee mornings, open gardens, annual street collections, concerts) which raises around £50,000 per year
- Income from four shops and a trolley service within the hospital site, which raises £360-370,000 per year. These shops are run entirely by volunteers, including the deputy shop manager, who sometimes contributes up to twenty hours per week of volunteering time. A salaried Manager isemployed on a part-time basis to oversee the retail operations and development.
Access to employment through partnership working
Most of the volunteers at Eastbourne Hospital are over retirement age, reflecting the local community. However the League has initiated a project to which the Trust has provided matched funding, to promote and enable volunteering among young people and women returners who may use the experience of volunteering as a route to paid employment. These volunteers will work in the shops and trolley service with more rigorous training and higher role expectations, so that they may use this experience on their CV in seeking work.
Mrs Anne Bathard-Smith, Friends’ Chairman says
“The FOEH, itself run by a committee of voluntary trustees, has built and strong relationship with its Hospitals over more than fifty years. The Friends not only fulfil their stated objective of providing extra services and amenities for the staff and patients from the funds they raise or are donated, but provide through the shop and trolley volunteers a vital service to the hospital. In this they are aided by their close ties with the Trust Voluntary Services Co-ordinator and the Trust Board.
GET (Get education Through) Volunteering is the latest example of co-operation between the Hospitals and the Friends. It is a pilot study to set up a scheme to encourage younger volunteers into the system by providing training. The project is funded by a successful bid for a VSM (ACU) grant from the Department of Health that is matched by the Trust, which is also providing much hands-on help and support, and by Opportunities for Volunteering funding, also from the DoH, won through the National Association of Hospital and Community Friends.
The support engendered by the Friends in the Eastbourne area not only reflects the work they do but the standing in the community of the Hospitals and NHS services they assist.
For further information, please contact:
Pam Love
Secretary
League of Friends of Eastbourne Hospital
Eastbourne District General Hospital
01323 417 400 ext 4696
friends.eastbourne@esht.nhs.uk
Corinne France
Voluntary Services Co-ordinator
Eastbourne District General Hospital
01323 417 400 ext 4880
france.corinne@esht.nhs.uk
