Bright Volunteer Service becomes an Approved Activity Provider for young people doing their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
Bright Northumbria Healthcare Charity are offering DofE participants the opportunity to complete the Volunteering section of their DofE Award through placements across Northumberland and North Tyneside.
Young volunteers help bring comfort and companionship to patients while developing valuable skills and experience.
Bright Northumbria Healthcare Charity Volunteers are proud to announce that they are now an Approved Activity Provider (AAP) for the Volunteering section of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE).
The volunteering opportunities are available to young people completing their Bronze, Silver or Gold DofE Award and provide meaningful ways to support patients, visitors and staff across Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Young volunteers aged 16 and over regularly give their time to help add a bit of brightness to hospitals and healthcare settings across Northumberland and North Tyneside. Opportunities include volunteering in Bright’s hospital shops, meeting and greeting patients and visitors, and acting as patient befrienders on wards, offering conversation and companionship to those who may be feeling isolated during their stay.
Through volunteering with Bright, young people gain valuable communication, teamwork and customer service skills while building confidence and making a positive difference in their local communities. The programme aims to provide rewarding experiences that support personal development while helping to enhance patient experience and staff wellbeing across the trust.
To achieve their DofE Award, young people aged 14 to 24 take part in activities across four sections: Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. Along the way, they have fun, grow in resilience and self-belief, discover new talents and passions, and learn practical skills that will help them in the future while working towards a highly respected award.
A record-breaking 1.6 million young people started their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in the UK between April 2021–March 2026 – a 27% growth in comparison to 2016-21. Participants contributed an astonishing 21 million hours of volunteering – from helping at food banks and care homes, coaching sports and mentoring younger children, to litter picking and supporting the NHS – worth an estimated total value of over £130 million.
Sophie Keaveney, Senior Operations Manager, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award charity, said: “We are delighted that Bright Northumbria Healthcare Charity is now an Approved Activity Provider for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, providing meaningful volunteering opportunities for young people in a health care setting. These fantastic opportunities support and enable young people to make a positive impact on themselves, others and the community.”
Karen Streener, Grants, Delivery and Impact Manager, said: “We’re delighted to become an Approved Activity Provider for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Our volunteers play a hugely important role in helping us create positive experiences for patients, visitors and staff across Northumbria Healthcare.
“We’re incredibly proud to offer young people the opportunity to complete their DofE volunteering with us while gaining valuable skills, confidence and experience that will benefit them long into the future. We look forward to welcoming even more young volunteers to Team Bright.”
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award wants to equip more than two million young people with skills for life and work by 2031. It has launched ambitious projects to fund schools and community organisations in the UK’s most deprived areas to start offering the DofE, to expand into more prisons and young offender institutions, and to support more young people with additional needs and disabilities to achieve their DofE Awards.
