National Volunteers Week

May 20-26 is National Volunteer Week, an opportunity to acknowledge and recognise the challenging work undertaken by the volunteers who work at Sydney Adventist Hospital and the valuable contribution they make.

This year the theme is ‘Something for Everyone’ to highlight that there is a place for everyone in the world of volunteering. 

In total, there are 314 volunteers who perform a range of tasks across various departments and wards which in turn allow us to provide an exceptional level of care to the community.

“Our volunteers are incredibly important to this organisation, and we admire their contribution, dedication and the care they have for our patients, staff and families. We are enormously grateful to each and every one of them,” said Brett Goods, AHCL CEO. 

“More than 30,000 volunteer hours have been given in the past calendar year alone,” said Patrina McLean, Manager San Volunteers. “Since volunteers started in 1973, they have contributed more than 1,782,000 hours to the San.  The dedication and generosity of time given to the San by the San Volunteers is awe-inspiring.”

This year 32 volunteers were recognised for significant years of service ranging from 10 years to 35 years of service. “Felicity Gerard-Helps and Rosemary Taylor have both been giving their time here for more than three decades. 

“The San is so blessed to have such generous people who contribute their time,” said Patrina. “There will always be something else to do with our time, there will always be somewhere else we can be, but our San Volunteers choose to be at the San.”