Stephanie Teece: The benefits to volunteering you may not have thought about

People volunteer for many different reasons. I myself started volunteering at Torbay Hospital Radio because I personally saw the benefit the charity brought to my dad when he had to spend many months in and out of hospital. I wanted to be a part of that to try to help other patients in hospital. 

Upon speaking to other volunteers within Torbay Hospital Radio (THR) I became aware of the various reasons why people volunteer and the benefits that both I and they have found from volunteering with THR, some of which are unexpected and a happy bonus! 

There is the “feel good factor” that you are making a difference to someone’s experience in hospital. Hospital can be a very lonely place. We provide music and entertainment 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and have lots of live shows as part of that where patients can contact us for requests / dedications or just a chat! We broadcast online via our website www.torbayhospitalradio.com and through 95.9fm, which allows patients to have a connection with their friends and family after visiting hours are over as they can all listen together even when outside the hospital. We also have ward visitors who go up onto the wards to take requests and provide a little bit of company. 

By doing the outside broadcasts that we do each year, you feel connected with the community whilst also raising valuable funds for the charity. 

We have all learnt new skills, whether that be presenting, technical, marketing, social, organisational, communication and so on. Skills that we can use not just to assist the charity but in our everyday lives. Some skills have also helped volunteers in their chosen careers. 

We have found new friends that enrich our lives. We all already have something in common by being part of the charity and have built on that. We like to think of ourselves as a THR family! 

Importantly volunteering can be fun! We have many different roles within THR that appeal to different people. Some like being a presenter and having a show or being a co-host, some enjoy being part of our outside broadcast or our engineering team, others like to be involved with our marketing and fundraising, there are so many options within charities to get involved with. 

Torbay Hospital Radio is always looking to welcome new volunteers to our team. If you would like to join us do please visit our website for more information and to apply.