Volunteers at Somerset Foundation Trust

31/10/2025

We had a busy office this morning with some of our lovely volunteers completing their mandatory training.

As a team we are here to support our volunteers and will do whatever we can to help, whether that's providing them with a laptop to use in hospital, supporting them on their own device or just being around in case they have any questions during the training.

24/10/2025

Graham, one of our Meet and Greet volunteers has been doing another role in the trust this week, selling poppies outside the League of Friends Shop. Well done Graham, keep up the fab work.

16/10/2025

We have a new role within our mental health teams at Yeovil Hospital and Musgrove Park Hospital.

We are in need of volunteers to support our Psych Liaison Team (PLT) to visit their patients, offering a friendly ear, support in identifying activities that they can complete on discharge, applicable to those individuals.

As a Mental Health Visiting Companion you will be a part of a wider team, but working independently, with support from PLT. You will need to be confident with talking to new people and able to make small talk.

With working and supporting patients with PLT, they could be in for a number of reasons, including infections, surgery, self harming etc. This is something you will be supported with by the team, however resilience will be something you will need to complete this role.

Shifts at Yeovil Hospital are Tuesdays or Thursdays 1 - 4.30pm

Shifts at Musgrove Park Hospital are Monday, Wednesday or Friday 1 - 4.30pm.

To apply for the Yeovil role please go to https://somersetnhsfoundationtrust.goassemble.com/opportunities/98544-mental-health-visiting-companion-volunteer-2025-10-01

For the Musgrove role please go to
https://somersetnhsfoundationtrust.goassemble.com/opportunities/99390-mental-health-visiting-companion-volunteer-2025-10-01

15/10/2025

09/10/2025

Our lovely volunteers have been helping out the cardiology department recently due to their relocation to level 2. Thank you to everyone who has given their time for this ad-hoc volunteering

08/10/2025

06/10/2025

On Friday Sarah joined the volunteer meeting that was being held for our Oncology Volunteers based at St Margaret's. It was great to see the volunteers and talk all things mandatory training. The cake was a nice bonus too!!

02/10/2025

Today the volunteers team attended the Vision for volunteering conference hosted by Spark Somerset. Lots of valuable information gained and networking took place.

26/09/2025

We welcomed a new volunteer to 7B a couple of weeks ago. The lovely Rafina is supporting patients with oral hygiene education. She talked through ingredients in toothpaste with one patient, which may be causing irritation, she also supported another patient on how to clean their teeth with their non-dominant hand.

Rafina will be around more regularly from October, and we are looking forward to her making a difference for patients.

25/09/2025

We have a brand new volunteer to career program taking place in November 2025.

It is a 6 - 8 week program based in a Mental Health site in Taunton where you will be supporting with activities for patients on the ward. You will need to complete 3 4 hour shifts per week, and there will be online and in person training included.

You will be supported by the Activity Coordinator, and this is a great opportunity to identify if a career within Mental Health is for you.

Please note, this program does not lead to a paid role on completion, we can however support you with employability skills for applications and interviews.

To find out more about the role, please click the link below

https://somersetnhsfoundationtrust.goassemble.com/opportunities/97758-volunteer-to-career-activity-volunteer-in-mental-health-2025-09-22

03/09/2025

We are running a Volunteer Recruitment Event at Bridgwater Community Hospital next week! Please just come along or to find out more, please email volunteeringSFT@somersetft.nhs.uk.
We look forward to meeting you!

20/08/2025

One of the lesser-known roles within our trust is that of an art psychotherapist🎨

Art psychotherapy is a therapy where art allows people a way of expressing themselves when patients find it difficult to locate words or prefer not to verbally recount or recall their thoughts, feelings, or experiences.

Our six art psychotherapists working within our adult community mental health services help individuals to use art materials to explore any difficulties associated with their mental health. Regardless of a person’s diagnosis, some of these difficulties could include challenges within interpersonal relationships, feeling anxious or depressed, having experiences of hearing and/or seeing things that others don’t, or experiencing post-traumatic stress.

The focus is not on the quality of the artwork made, but instead about the connections between the artwork, the art making process, and the person’s thoughts, feelings and responses.

Art psychotherapy offers a powerful, creative path to healing helping people feel seen, heard, and supported behind the scenes💙