OPINION: Your acts of kindness are unmatched - Harrogate and Hospital Community Charity’s Sammy Lambert

The Volunteer Team have made some changes to the pathways offered to potential new volunteers, with the aim being to make the volunteer recruitment process more efficient and tailored to each individuals unique needs. The pathways that are being offered are as follows:

• Standard Volunteering Opportunity Pathway: this is the standardised route into volunteering that the team have been running up until this point, which is for anyone aged 16 and above who would like to get involved with volunteering for #teamHDFT.

• Career Enhancement Pathway: this is offered to any individual, aged 16 and above, that wishes to pursue educational and/or professional development through committing to one of the many volunteering opportunities offered. The aim being to encourage young people in education to commit to a longer term volunteering opportunity, allowing them to build and develop transferable skills to take into their future academic and/or professional career.

• Enhanced Support Pathway: this is offered to any individual, aged 16 and above, with special educational needs and/or disabilities that would benefit from a bespoke plan based on their unique needs. The Volunteer Team hopes that this will make any volunteer opportunities more accessible and inclusive.

If you would like to hear more about any of the three pathways and how you could volunteer for your local NHS, email [email protected].

If you have visited Harrogate District Hospital in the last couple of weeks, you may have noticed some lovely new plants in our main entrance. We recently received a marvellous donation of over 200 plants from The Northern School of Gardening and Grant Horticulture. The plants donated by Johnsons of Whixley for the show resulted in a Silver Merit award at BBC Gardeners World Live. These plants will help enhance our outside spaces across the site and also help enrich our biodiversity. Congratulations to Charlotte Jones and the team at The Northern School of Gardening and Grant Horticulture for their amazing achievement.

Calling all golf enthusiasts, there is an incredible opportunity to join the 2022 Club Captains Charity Golf Day – Thursday, August 4 at Oakdale Golf Club, with all profits coming to HHCC, for more information email [email protected]. We are proud to be the Oakdale Golf Club’s Captains chosen charity this year. Saturday, July 23 Harrogate Symphony Orchestra (HSO) brings you - Family Fun Time featuring the world premiere of King of the Birds, at the Royal Hall Harrogate. Tickets through the Harrogate Theatre website. The HHCC and Volunteer Team and I are so grateful to HSO for choosing to support HHCC as their chosen charity. Our HHCC elves are busy planning our next outdoor pop up Christmas market. Save the date Sunday, November 27 10am-4pm at the Harrogate Railway Athletic FC. We are now accepting stall applications for our Christmas market - contact the HHCC and Volunteer Team today email [email protected] or call 01423 557408.

However, you choose to support your local NHS, through fundraising, attending our events, raising awareness for HHCC or making a donation, these acts of kindness are unmatched. Visit our website hhcc.co.uk or contact us via email [email protected] or call 01423 557408.