Northumbria Volunteer Service (NVS)
At Northumbria Healthcare, there are a wide range of exciting opportunities to volunteer with us. One of which is to work in one of the Northumbria Volunteer Service (NVS) shops across the trust.
We have five shops across five of our locations within Northumberland and North Tyneside:
- Blyth Community Hospital
- Hexham General Hospital
- North Tyneside General Hospital
- Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital
- Wansbeck General Hospital
These shops/cafes provide a vital service to patients, visitors, and staff – selling food, refreshments, toiletries, gifts and more.
How they run
Our shops/cafes are run by a mix of volunteers and paid staff, keeping everything in order while you do the things you love.
Some responsibilities include:
- Serving customers
- Making drinks
- Serving food
- Stocking shelves
- Keeping the shop tidy
Their purpose (CDGs)
Apart from the shops providing a key service to its customers, they make a real difference to the hospital site they’re a part of.
Charity Development Groups, or CDGs, seek to make improvements out of the ordinary from ideas made by our Northumbria staff.
If a staff member at Wansbeck General Hospital has an idea to improve patient care or staff wellbeing, they can apply for funding at our CDG – the money for this bid comes from the profits made by the Wansbeck NVS shop, combined with general donations and legacies received.
Our shops continuously give back to the hospital and those in it.
Special events
We like to make the most of special occasions at our shops and cafes, whether it’s fundraising or getting into the spirit of national events.
We’ve raised money through our coffee sales during Macmillan Coffee Morning, sold Valentine’s themed cakes specially made by The Running Fox, provided festive treats at Christmas and much more.
Meet the team:
Claire Finn
Operational Service Manager for Volunteering
Karen Streener
Project Support Officer (Volunteering and Environment)