Engaging 16-25 year olds in volunteering in Primary Care
Young people are very much invested in developing and engaging with their local communities and areas they live in. We witnessed the support from volunteers from all backgrounds and ages during the Covid-19 pandemic. Do you want to find out how engaging young people may support your organisation?
Munya is our NHS Kent and Medway Youth Volunteering Project Manager whose role is a system approach to youth (age 16-25) volunteering. Working with health and care providers, he supports designing volunteer programmes, and engages with key partners including schools/colleges, Department of Works and Pensions (DWP), voluntary sector and youth groups in recruiting young volunteers.
Section 8 of The NHS Long Term Plan states ‘ local volunteering allows …. younger people to develop skills and experience for work and education’. By working together, we can design and deliver volunteering programmes that can lead to careers, develop skills and support greater community engagement. To support skills development, volunteers can undertake the National Volunteer Certificate which requires a minimum of 60 hours volunteering.
Here are a couple of volunteer programmes that are being delivered by young people:
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells Trust – groups of students from local special needs college and Mid Kent College have adapted hospital gardens which students upkeep on weekly basis gaining skills, and helping Greener strategy.
Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust – young people working with the Trust’s charity to fundraise. Plans underway for college students on Beauty courses to provide hand and head massage to staff as part of wellbeing.
Ideas for development – young people on sports courses design and deliver physical activities in regions with high obesity issues; being ‘consultants’ to support Patient Engagement Groups; support short term projects such as conducting research on new programmes/medicines in Primary Care regions.
Contact Munya to find out more and get involved – Munya.Badze@nhs.net.