Image
Anne, Duchess of Norfolk Volunteer of the Year Award
Introduction image
Content
Image
Image
2024 Winner: Harbhajan Surj, Compton Care
Harbhajan Suri’s contribution as a volunteer across many parts of Compton Care was impressive, but his commitment to breaking down barriers to getting specialist palliative and end of life care for the South Asian community made him shine through as the winner.
By translating written information in Punjabi and Urdu, visiting local places of worship, and supporting community open day events, his contribution has had a lasting impact on reducing inequity of access to care.
The panel added, “Harbhajan is a fantastic example of how hospices can work differently with volunteers, and ensure that volunteers can contribute to hospice care in the most innovative and meaningful ways.”
Image
Image
2023 Winner: Jess Sheridan, Dorothy House Hospice
19-year-old Jess is a Young People’s Ambassador for Dorothy House Hospice who shows remarkable commitment using her personal experience to champion the hospice’s work. She supports children from local schools talking with them about her experience of grief and bereavement.
By describing the catastrophic effect of losing her mum as a teenager and its impact on her academic career and her personal life, Jess has been able to offer advice to other bereaved young people, acting as a role model and helping them to connect and support each other.
The Awards Panel, who were unanimous in their selection, commented: “We are thrilled and moved to recognise Jess’s achievement on becoming a Young Ambassador. Thank you, Jess, for your dedication and hard work.”
Image
Image
2022 Winner: Mary Bolshaw, Hospiscare Exeter
Mary’s nomination for Volunteer of the Year stood out to the judges for both the dedication and breadth of her service as a volunteer for Hospiscare, and Chair of Honiton and District Friends of Hospiscare.
Mary was a founding member of the Hospiscare family and has dedicated over 45 years to the charity. She has worked tirelessly to support the hospice in a huge variety of ways, from monthly coffee mornings to Christmas lunches, from volunteering at reception to driving patients to appointments, from providing and delivering home-cooked meals during Covid to organising afternoon teas.
Judges added, “the financial contribution of raising over £1.1 million is a huge achievement, but we were equally struck by how much time and energy she has poured into caring for her community through the hospice.”
Image
Image
2021 Winner: Sheila Miller, St Gemma’s Hospice, Leeds
With over 20 years of volunteering, Sheila’s passion and commitment were evident, providing voluntary spiritual care, bereavement support, befriending and fundraising support - especially through the COVID period.
Sheila has been compassionate not only to patients and families receiving support at the hospice, but to her colleagues and support staff that needed to talk during difficult times.
Sheila’s thoughtfulness, including buying food and supplies for hospice staff during the height of the pandemic, is not to be understated.
