It could be the Big Society in action: young volunteers at a hospital providing everything from company for elderly patients to extra hands for gardening and fundraising.
Except that Kerry Alexander-Pearson, supervisor of the Vibe volunteers at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup, southeast London, closed the office door for the last time yesterday. She said: “There’ll be no farewell drinks or leaving party. We are just going to go home.”
Vibe is one of dozens of charitable enterprises that have shut this week, the end of the financial year, because of the government cuts. Vibe has lost £98,000 a year from V, the national charity that helps to fund voluntary projects for young people. The money paid for Ms Alexander-Pearson and her project manager and courses for nearly 200 volunteers a year aged between 16 and 25. Fiona Anderson, 22, who spent three months as a full-time volunteer with the project, said that the experience gave her confidence and expertise that she hopes will help in her future career in mental health.
She said: “In relation to the number of people involved and what it gets for its money, the cost is nothing. Now all that youthful energy and enthusiasm will go to waste.”
The volunteers, many still in full-time education, have been a welcome addition to the hospital services for the past 11 years, first as Millennium Volunteers and then supported by V. They help a speech therapy group for recovering stroke victims, provide company at meal times for elderly long-stay patients, and organise parties and social evenings.
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Emma Thomas Hancock, of Community Service Volunteers, which ran Vibe, said that there was nothing else quite like it and there was nowhere else for the young people to go.
The Government’s preferred replacement, the National Citizens Service, will only be open to 16-year-olds and then only for a few weeks in the summer.
She said: “The hospital trust only accepts adult volunteers over 25. There is a lot of administration involved in organising the activities of so many volunteers not to mention that they need CRB [criminal records bureau] checks, references and someone to look out for them.
“From their point of view it is a fantastic opportunity in terms of personal development.”