Transforming healthcare volunteering
Guided by our vision of a nation where volunteering is integral to healthcare at its very best, we partner with hundreds of UK healthcare organisations – unleashing the power of volunteers to deliver measurable benefits for patients, staff, and service users.
Our achievements to date
Improving the lives of patients, staff and volunteers
By providing unrivalled volunteering knowledge, data, and analysis to NHS and community partners, Helpforce has greatly extended its reach and impact – measurably improving the lives of more patients, more staff, and more volunteers.
We have helped
910954
patients
130850
staff
77677
volunteers
103
organisations
910954
patients
130850
staff
77677
volunteers
103
organisations
Spotlight news
Helpforce calling for mass mobilisation of volunteers to support ailing NHS
Helpforce is calling for the biggest health volunteering recruitment drive since the pandemic, with a focus on mobilising young adults into ‘response volunteer’ roles. Working alongside NHS staff, these volunteers can have a transformative impact on hospital efficiency and help reduce waiting lists.
Our services
We work like a consultancy, and will start our partnership by finding out more about the challenges organisations face. Once we understand their situation, we will work with them to deliver volunteering solutions that help meet their challenges.
Find out more about our services below.
Find out more about our services below.
Developing volunteering services
Our expert team takes organisations through a tried and tested consultation process – Adopt and Adapt – to establish volunteer services that tackle their organisational challenges, fit their situation, and optimise integration between health and community services.
Building future workforce
We help organisations build and maintain their workforces through our Helpforce Volunteer to Career programme™, which allows people to explore a career in health and care, while volunteering.
Evaluating volunteers' impact
We build robust assessments into all our partnership projects and can evaluate other volunteering services. We have built up a unique bank of over 230 evidence findings.
Sharing volunteering expertise through the Helpforce Network
The Helpforce Network is a free online peer community for professionals from statutory and voluntary sector organisations with an interest in volunteering in health and care. Members join the Network to share their knowledge, learn from their peers and find practical support and resources - helping them to improve their volunteering management practice.Case studies
Freya's story
Karen's story
When most 16-year-olds were focused on school, friends, and exams, Freya Gilbertson was stepping into a children’s hospital during the height of the global pandemic — not as a patient, but as a volunteer.
Feeling an urge to give something back to the hospital that had saved her and her daughter’s lives, Karen Adams applied and soon found herself working one morning a week on cardiology and hematology wards as a ‘Visitor Volunteer’. Her role involves befriending patients, helping to put them at ease, and keeping an eye out for any difficulties they may be experiencing.
Chetan's story
Volunteers drivers save trust £200k
Chetan Bhakri optimises what it means to donate the gift of time to help others. A busy full-time software consultant, he could be forgiven for kicking-back in front of the tv of a weekend or relaxing with friends. But instead, the 50-year-old from New Malden puts on his volunteer uniform every Saturday and Sunday night and reports for duty at Kingston Hospital.
With a smile that radiates kindness, Chetan helps out in the hospital’s busy emergency department where he’s considered a key part of the team.
Helpforce's evaluation of the volunteer drivers service at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust has shown that the service saved the trust more than £200,000 over a decade, against the cost of taxis. The service, which started with only eight drivers, has now grown to 28 drivers, providing invaluable support to patients and staff.
Freya's story
Karen's story
Chetan's story
Volunteers drivers save trust £200k
Case studies
When most 16-year-olds were focused on school, friends, and exams, Freya Gilbertson was stepping into a children’s hospital during the height of the global pandemic — not as a patient, but as a volunteer.
Feeling an urge to give something back to the hospital that had saved her and her daughter’s lives, Karen Adams applied and soon found herself working one morning a week on cardiology and hematology wards as a ‘Visitor Volunteer’. Her role involves befriending patients, helping to put them at ease, and keeping an eye out for any difficulties they may be experiencing.
Chetan Bhakri optimises what it means to donate the gift of time to help others. A busy full-time software consultant, he could be forgiven for kicking-back in front of the tv of a weekend or relaxing with friends. But instead, the 50-year-old from New Malden puts on his volunteer uniform every Saturday and Sunday night and reports for duty at Kingston Hospital.
With a smile that radiates kindness, Chetan helps out in the hospital’s busy emergency department where he’s considered a key part of the team.
Helpforce's evaluation of the volunteer drivers service at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust has shown that the service saved the trust more than £200,000 over a decade, against the cost of taxis. The service, which started with only eight drivers, has now grown to 28 drivers, providing invaluable support to patients and staff.
Our partners
We collaborate with diverse organisations across the healthcare system, from Integrated Health Boards and individual NHS Trusts, to social care groups and hospices. Take a look at some of our partners below.
“Helpforce’s expertise has supported us to design a highly-effective, volunteer-led falls prevention service that meets the needs of our local community. We’re proud of the impact it has had on patients, staff, and our incredible volunteers.”
Jo Farrar, Chief Executive, Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust
“Thank you Helpforce for supporting us to go even further and faster to develop our well-established volunteering offer within our hospitals. They are a delight to work with.”
Merav Dover, Chief of Staff to CEO Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and SRO National Discharge and Flow
“We are delighted to have partnered with Helpforce. Volunteer to Career is an effective way of opening up healthcare career opportunities to people with no prior experience”
Angela Smith, Chief Executive at Friends of Moorfields Eye Hospital
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