NSCG Stafford College student wins ‘Young Volunteer of the Year’ award

Eve Adams was crowned ‘Young Volunteer of the Year’ in the Helpforce Champions Awards 2021.

The 17-year-old, who is currently a student at NSCG Stafford College, joined the Trust in January 2021 to support the Clinical Volunteers programme. She received training in bed making, dementia awareness and patient communication amongst other key skills.

When Eve first started volunteering, she supported on an elderly care ward at New Cross Hospital. As visiting was suspended due to the pandemic, she chatted to patients and provided some much-needed company. During this time, Eve said she felt privileged to hear some of the patient’s stories.

Eve then went on to support staff on the virtual COVID-19 Ward based at Wolverhampton’s Science Park – calling patients at home to monitor their progress. Her most recent role has been on the COVID-19 swabbing station at New Cross Hospital.

Eve said: “I’ve been able to enhance my own skills while volunteering and this will help me in the future with paid employment. My confidence has grown massively.”

To add to her successes, Eve has recently been appointed as the Trust’s first ever Youth Volunteer Ambassador and regularly supports new young volunteers by mentoring them on shifts and offering regular support and advice. She has also supported with training sessions and helps volunteers with the practical aspects of the role such as how to feed patients who require assistance.

And to go even further, she is actively going out and about presenting to local schools and colleges about the Youth Volunteer Programme. This has proved hugely successful in engagement of the programme and gives young people in the community an honest, first-hand account of what volunteering in the NHS looks like.

Abby Townsend, Youth Volunteering Programme Coordinator, said: “Eve is an incredible volunteer and is a great example of what an asset having young volunteers is to the Trust. She is committed, enthusiastic, hard-working and is willing to turn her hand to anything.

Continued Abby: “Our Trust values are to be ‘Kind and Caring’, to ‘Exceed Expectation’ and to be ‘Safe and Effective’ and Eve has demonstrated all three of these key values in abundance with the fantastic contribution she has made.”

When asked how it felt to win the award Eve said: "I am so honoured – I never expect praise or thanks for what I do but it is so amazing when it happens. It is not just me who has won, it’s the whole team as without their incredible support none of this would be possible. A massive thank you to Abby in particular who has been a phenomenal support to me since the beginning and to RWT for giving me what has turned out to be a life-changing opportunity!"

Clare Briscoe, Study Support Tutor at NSCG, said: “Eve is committed to her academic work and building a future in the medical field and has sacrificed her evenings and weekends to be a clinical volunteer at a local hospital. Her award is testament to her commitment to her studies and the local community.”

An annual event, which this year was a virtual ceremony, the awards give recognition to volunteers across the UK in health and social care, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic where volunteers have played a critical role; courageously giving up their own time to support staff and patients during a period of uncertainty.

Hosted by Helpforce, a charity that partners with health and care organisations to increase volunteering opportunities, the awards is made up of nine key categories which each look to find examples of people bringing about positive change and setting new levels of excellence. We’re pleased to say that Eve has been recognised as doing exactly that!

To learn more about the charity, please visit HelpForce.

For further information on studying A Levels at NSCG Stafford College please visit https://nscg.ac.uk/study/course-types/a-level