Health

Without my work and family, volunteering helped me through lockdown


I’m the kind of person who’s perpetually busy; most days I am out of my house for 12-14 hours. So it was a massive shock for me to not have my work, my social life and my big extended family after lockdown started. I wondered how I was going to get through it. 

I’m a senior recruitment consultant for Office Angels and was put on furlough in April. I’d already signed up as an NHS volunteer before that happened. I had a WhatsApp message from a friend, who sent the link and said: “Some of us have signed up for this, I think you’d love it. Check it out.” 

At the time, the GoodSam website was looking for 250,000 people to support 1.5 million people in need – eventually 600,000 were approved as volunteers. I didn’t hesitate. I’m 30, live on my own in the centre of Portsmouth, I’m in good health and I drive. I thought, if I can help, I want to. 

After all the checks were done, I went live on the app; I didn’t know what to expect. But here we are weeks later and I get at least one call a day. On my busiest day, I had five. This isn’t the kind of being busy you resent – you are just pleased to be helping people. 

There are four things the service offers: collecting and delivering food, prescriptions and medication; transporting patients; transporting supplies and medicines for the NHS; and phoning people for a check in and chat. All requests come to us via the GoodSam app – when you are alerted to a requirement, a siren goes off on your phone – and you get an option to accept or reject it.

I’ve done lots of shopping and collecting medicine. And I had a 57-minute call with a man in his 80s; I could have sat and talked to him all day. He is such a character. 

I guess there are skills from my job that have helped me with my volunteering. As a recruitment consultant, being efficient, providing a good service and being a people person are all skills I have to have. 

NHS volunteer Kimberley Harvey



Kimberley Harvey takes a delivery to a neighbour in Portsmouth. Photograph: RVS

When I pick up a vacancy at work, I need to find all the information that isn’t written on a job description. I need to find out what my client wants – and it’s the same when I go shopping for someone. I realised that after I went on my first shopping trip for an elderly man: he only wanted five items, but I must have called him six times to make sure I got the right things and the sizes he needed. That’s been the only thing that hasn’t gone quite to plan.

When I did my first few jobs I came back and felt really happy. I thought I was being selfish, I’m not meant to feel good about it. The most rewarding thing I’ve done is helping an elderly man to his hospital appointments for cancer treatment. He lives just 20 doors down from me, but I’d never seen him before. Doing this has really brought home the things happening on my doorstep that I was completely oblivious to. 

My motivation for doing this is my family and friends who work for the NHS. My great-aunt is an infection control practitioner at the local hospital and my great-uncle is a logistics porter. He had retired but has gone back to help. My oldest and best friend is a nurse, doing her utmost. The point of this service is to relieve pressure on the NHS. 

By protecting the people who call the number for help, by keeping the risk away from them, I am protecting my best friend from having to hold someone else’s hand, or call their family for them, or be any more traumatised than she already has been by this. 

Volunteering has 100% helped me get through this, without a shadow of a doubt. It is company for me and it gives a sense of purpose. Over the past few weeks, I’ve learned about my community and I have realised that I am lucky. I am blessed to have my family and a support network. 

When we go back to reality, and I go back to work, I’ll definitely continue volunteering. 

Helping people makes me happy. As much as I have been giving company to others, I am on my own too. It has given me something to focus on. 



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.