Call for volunteers at Bradford's Marie Curie hospice

In fact, about 95 people give of their time to help run the Maudsley Street hospice in a wide variety of roles.

From the more traditional positions such as engaging with day patients and serving refreshments, as well as supporting patients, there are many more volunteering roles available.

Driving day patients to and from the hospice, maintaining the gardens, helping maintain records and working on the reception, as well as helping to fundraise, are all tasks where volunteers can make a real difference.

Ahead of the national Volunteer Week, which begins on Monday, the hospice is appealing for extra volunteers to come forward and lend their skills to the team.

Pete Sowden, himself a volunteer, who supports other volunteers at the 16-bed hospice, has been helping out over the past year, having worked in the private sector for 40 years.

He told the Telegraph & Argus: "So far it has been an inspiring and eye opening experience. Every day I come in I never cease to marvel at the selflessness and sheer dedication shown by both staff and volunteers.

"I can actually see the appreciation in patient's faces. The feeling of pride and satisfaction I get in helping such a worthy cause cannot be matched and I’m so pleased I’ve been given the opportunity to offer my services voluntarily to Marie Curie. Volunteering really is a rewarding experience.

"Some people ask me why I do work without pay –what they really mean is why do I work without receiving money. I assure them, I do receive a form of ‘payment’ from it – just not in money. I get certain rewards money just can’t buy – for example, a sense of contribution to helping people less fortunate than myself."

Volunteers devote a combined total of between 200 and 250 hours work per week at the hospice on average - and this does not include the fundraising team of volunteers. This equates to more than £100,000 per year in monetary terms.

Put simply, without this volunteer input, the hospice would not be able to function as effectively and handle as many patients as it does while maintaining the highest levels of care.

The hospice caters for people struck down with cancer or dealing with a terminal illness. As well as the 16 beds for inpatients, there is a thriving day therapy unit which accommodates around ten day patients per day - amounting to about 2,500 patient visits a year.

The volunteers, of which about 60 are regular attendees, are a vital addition to the 80 paid members of staff, of which 52 are nursing or caring workers.

One such volunteer, Irene Taylor has spent much of her life giving her time - 14 of those years at the Marie Curie hospice, which she joined as a volunteer the year it was opened.

Eighty five-year-old Mrs Taylor, of Undercliffe, who has been a widow for nearly 29 years, retired one week, and a week later was volunteering at a charity shop.

"I've been a volunteer for nearly 26 years in total, at the Oxfam shop in Bradford, a chaplaincy visitor at Bradford Royal Infirmary, and then Marie Curie.

"I saw an advert in the paper, saying they wanted volunteers for the new hospice that was being built. So after Prince Charles had opened it in the October I went and had an interview and began volunteering.

"I ran a gift shop in the corridor for a number of years, which the patients loved because a lot of them couldn't get out, so this was their only chance to buy gifts."

She added: "This is the best thing I have ever done in my life. The people here are my inspiration and they never complain. They are just so upbeat, despite everything.

"It's one of the most rewarding things to be a volunteer. Some people think I'm crazy because I have never really retired, but there is the joy of giving your time."

Mr Sowden encouraged anyone interested in volunteering at the hospice click on the Get Involved link on the website mariecurie.org.uk. For other inquiries call the hospice on 01274 337000 or email Mr Sowden at pete.sowden@mariecurie.org.uk