6 July 2018
This is Ted. He’s been volunteering at University Hospital and the old Walsgrave Hospital for almost a quarter of a century, making cups of tea for patients having treatment for cancer.
Ted started volunteering on the old B3 East ward in Walsgrave Hospital in June 1994, moving to Wards 35 and 34 when University Hospital opened in 2006. But his connection to the NHS goes a lot further back than that.
Ted used to drive for a living, collecting and delivering the hospital’s laundry from the age of 21. His daughter Tracey, worked as a nurse at Walsgrave Hospital, and she got him his first volunteering position after retirement. Ted says this was because he was getting on his late wife’s Audrey’s nerves, but she joined him soon afterwards to give five years of her time volunteering for patients.
Ted, who describes himself as “prone to mischief”, comes in every weekday afternoon and aims to brighten people’s stays in hospital.
Ted said: “I’m proud to volunteer for the NHS. You meet a lot of good people, and I like helping people and being someone for them to talk to. I get them to relax because I’m cheeky, and I never finish my shift when I’m supposed to as I’m too busy nattering to the patients.”
Ted doesn’t just give his time to patients and relatives on the cancer wards; he’s also the chief trainer for new volunteers at the hospital. He’s also award-winning, scooping the inaugural Volunteer of the Year Award at our staff OSCAs in 2016.
We think Ted is one in a million!
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