Volunteering for Health Birmingham and Solihull

What is Volunteering for Health?

Volunteering for Health is a £10 million national programme led by NHS England, NHS Charities Together and CW+ to strengthen the role of volunteering in health and social care. Over three years, 15 areas - including Birmingham and Solihull - will test new approaches, tackle barriers to volunteering, and share learning across the NHS. The programme builds on recommendations from the NHS Volunteering Taskforce, which set out a five-year vision to expand and improve volunteering across the health service.

The Birmingham & Solihull Programme is a partnership between:

BVSC
Birmingham Women's & Childrens NHS Foundation Trust, and
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

What does Volunteering for Health mean for Birmingham and Solihull?

Birmingham and Solihull programme aims to:

Create links between volunteering, healthier lifestyles and career opportunities - for example through school projects, work experience and apprenticeships.
Work with volunteers to make opportunities more inclusive and accessible, especially for young people and underrepresented groups.
Develop new volunteering roles focused on reducing health inequalities.
Improve the volunteer experience through easier access to finding opportunities.

Why get involved?

Volunteering your time within health and care settings locally is a great way to:

Give something back to your community
Support patients, families and staff
Learn new skills and build confidence
Be part of a friendly team making a real difference.

How to get involved

There are three main ways to get involved in volunteering through the Volunteering for Health project:

Youth Volunteering with Birmingham Women’s & Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
Community Volunteering with Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Explore other local health volunteering opportunities through the BVSC platform, Volunteer Brum.

Youth Volunteering

These opportunities are designed specifically for young people aged 14-21 who are interested in exploring careers in health and care. Participants get involved in short ‘micro-projects’ during school holidays, each linked to a different clinical area. Some projects last just a few hours, while others run over several days or weeks – offering valuable insight into the world of healthcare.

To express an interest in youth volunteering, please complete the short form below.

Apply for youth volunteering opportunities

Download a flyer (opens as pdf)
Download a poster (opens as pdf)

Community Volunteering

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust is developing a range of roles for people who want to give their time and skills to support patients, staff, and the wider community.

Opportunities may include:

Ward Activity Volunteers – Supporting the enhanced care team to do activities and games with patients in day room on wards. This has successfully been piloted through our partnership with BCU dual-nursing course at MHH.
End of Life Volunteers – Setting up a partnership with the Ann Robson Charity to provide community and inpatient volunteers to offer companionship to end of life patients.
Health Promotion/ Patient Experience Volunteers – Promoting vaccination and immunisation information to staff, patients, visitors and in the community. Also surveying patients and asking them to complete the Friends and Family tests (FFTs).
Charity and Fundraising Volunteers – Supporting the charity at events, promoting charity schemes, running the charity hub and fundraising for the charity.
Green Spaces/ Staff and Visitor Wellbeing Volunteers – Maintaining green spaces across the trust and offering wellbeing sessions for staff and visitors
Wayfinding Volunteers – Supporting visitors and patients to find their way around sites
Other volunteering roles: Community connexions, discharge support, DNA reduction

We welcome individual volunteers who can give a few hours a week, a day a month, or help on a one-off basis; whatever fits your schedule. Anyone aged 18 and over can apply. As long as you are a compassionate and dependable person who enjoys working with others to make a difference; no previous volunteering experience is necessary, just enthusiasm and a willingness to get involved!

To apply, email your expression of interest to The Birmingham Community Healthcare volunteering team. Tell them about your desired role and what your motivation is to get involved. We will send you a link to an application form where you can provide more details about yourself. We'll arrange a short informal chat to learn more about you and match you to the right opportunity. Please note that all volunteers will need to complete some mandatory training and a DBS check before starting their role with us.

Email your expression of interest

Other local health volunteering opportunities

Explore other routes to volunteering on the Volunteering for Health page of Volunteer Brum. You'll find a list of current opportunities to volunteer with health related programmes and initiatives in both the NHS and the wider voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector.

Explore Volunteer Brum

Useful links:

Volunteer Brum
Volunteering at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Volunteering at Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Get in touch!

If you have any questions about Volunteering for Health Birmngham & Solihull please email us: [email protected].

Latest

West Midlands Multibank Reaches One Million Milestone to Help Families in Need

One million essential items have been distributed to families in need across the region through the West Midlands Multibank since the project was launched just over a year ago. The milestone was celebrated by BVSC, who oversee the West Midlands Multibank alongside funders Comic Relief and Sport Relief. The West Midlands Multibank receives donations from businesses such as Amazon to distribute to a network of over 200 community partners who then distribute them to families most in need.
CYP Preventative and Early Mental & Emotional Help - External Stakeholders Engagement

Early Help Mental Health Services provide voluntary, preventative support for children, young people, and families facing challenges to prevent future escalations into secondary care mental health services. The way our young people want to access support, and their needs have changed a lot over the last 10 years. We are reviewing our services to ensure we deliver them effectively and to check if our current delivery model meeting patient needs.
Letters, Promises and Belonging: The Children Of Windrush
Birmingham Windrush Service of Commemoration, Thanksgiving and Celebration

The service will include contributions from clergy, community leaders, and the Birmingham Windrush Celebration Legacy Choir.

Crisis and Resilience Fund

Help for Birmingham households experiencing financial hardship is being developed as part of Birmingham’s Crisis and Resilience Fund (previously known as Household Support Fund/ Hardship Grant Community Fund) programme.
Become a volunteer

Volunteering involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that is of benefit to others or the environment. Find out how you can get involved in volunteering in Birmingham.
The Weather Model

This model uses the weather as a metaphor for different elements of reflective practice.
What we do

BVSC aims to support a vibrant and resilient sector which in turn ensures that people from across the city feel included and engaged and have access to appropriate support from people who understand the issues and challenges they face.
Join BVSC

There are several ways that you can engage with BVSC to stay informed, grow your organisation and connect with others.
Neighbourhood Network Schemes in Birmingham

The aim of Neighbourhood Network Schemes (known as NNS) in Birmingham is to help older adults in Birmingham to lead healthy, happy and independent lives in their own homes and communities.
Funding

Find out how BVSC can help you with fundraising
Compliments, Comments and Complaints Process

At BVSC we strive to provide our customers with the best service possible. We know that some of the best ideas come from people outside of our organisation and we therefore welcome feedback at every level to help us continuously improve what we do. This means that we want to hear from you when things go well, and when things could have gone better.
Quality Standards
Promote your organisation