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Brian and Kathleen Wood

For Brian and Kathleen Wood, volunteering is about providing "tender loving care" to those patients who need it.

Having volunteered as part of the Chaplaincy team at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) for over 16 years, Brian and Kathleen have been on hand to listen to, talk to or just pray with patients.

Working two mornings a week and two Sundays a month, Brian and Kathleen used to help push patients in wheelchairs to the chapel for the Sunday morning service.

This was the start of Brian and Kathleen’s volunteering at UHB. Both are now licensed to carry out communion and Brian was even asked to carry out a funeral.

Brian remembers: “We got to know a gentleman who was a patient in the hospital and his wife very well during his time here. When he was discharged they moved down south and when the gentleman died his wife asked me to conduct the funeral. Unfortunately we had planned to visit our son in South Africa at the time so I was unable to do so.”

Both are determined to carry on with their volunteering duties for as long as their physical strength allows. They see themselves as the link between the patient and chaplain, assisting where they can but calling on professional help from UHB chaplains where needed.

Brian and Kathleen are happy to talk to patients from all faiths and backgrounds.

Kathleen said: “Sometimes patients want to talk about anything but their procedure. For patients who are speaking to doctors and nurses every day it is nice for them to talk to someone outside medicine."

The couple also have nothing but praise for the volunteering team they work with: “We are part of an outgoing, friendly and embracing group of volunteers. The team works well together and ultimately this has a positive effect on the patients," said Brian.