Get involved

Join our amazing team of volunteers
Are you looking for a meaningful way to give back to your community?

Do you want to make a real difference in the lives of patients and their families? If so, join our dedicated team of volunteers at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT).

Why volunteer with us?
Our volunteers play an essential role in supporting our hospital, providing comfort, assistance, and companionship to patients, visitors, and staff. As a volunteer, you will:

• Be a friendly face for patients and visitors.
• Support health and wellbeing initiatives.
• Gain valuable experience in a healthcare setting.
• Meet new people and be part of a caring community.

We welcome individuals aged 17 and over who are compassionate, independent, and enthusiastic about making a difference. In return, we offer a variety of rewarding opportunities to develop new skills and contribute to a positive hospital environment.

Our volunteer roles

• We offer a wide range of non-clinical volunteer opportunities, including:
• Meet and greet – helping patients and visitors navigate the hospital.
• Compassionate Care (Namaste) – providing companionship, reading, mealtime support, and other non-clinical care.
• Butterfly Volunteer – supporting patients in the final stages of life and offering comfort to their families.
• Pets as Therapy – bringing joy to patients through visits from therapy dogs.
• Chaplaincy and spiritual care – offering emotional and spiritual support.
• Harlow Hospital Radio – engaging patients through entertainment and music.
• Administrative support – assisting staff with clerical tasks.

Upcoming volunteer onboarding events
Our upcoming volunteer onboarding events (April 2025) will help new volunteers to get started and introduce them to our hospital community.

Information day
Date/time: Tuesday 1 April, from 9am to 12pm noon
Location: The Barn, Harlow Study Centre, Netteswellbury Farm, Harlow CM18 6BS

Interviews
Dates: Monday 14 April or Thursday 17 April, from 10am to 3pm (time slot to be allocated depending on your availability)
Location: Kao Park, London Road, CM17 9SR

Induction day
Date: Friday 25 April, from 10am to 3pm
Location: Kao Park, London Road, CM17 9SR

Please note: Potential volunteers must be available for all three dates to apply. If you’re unable to make the dates above, we will be organising another onboarding event this October (2025).

How to apply
Becoming a volunteer at PAHT is simple - just follow these steps to get started:

• Apply: Complete our online application form [link], detailing your interests and availability.
• Meet our team: If a suitable role is available, we’ll invite you to the information day (details above) with our voluntary services management team.
• Complete recruitment checks: We’ll guide you through identity verification, reference checks, and a free Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
• Complete training: All volunteers must complete online training courses before starting. Additional training may be required for specific roles.
• Start volunteering: Once training is complete, you’ll be ready to begin making a difference in our hospital community.
  Additional information
• Commitment: Volunteers are asked to commit to at least four hours per week for twelve months.
• Expenses: Travel expenses up to £8 per session can be reimbursed, and mealtime vouchers are available for volunteers working over four hours.
• DBS and health checks: A DBS check and an occupational health review (including routine immunisations) are required.

Get involved today

If you’re ready to make a difference, we’d love to hear from you. Please complete the online application form via this link >Please complete the application form in full — this helps us to identify opportunities that match your interests, skills and attributes. 

If you have any difficulties completing the online application form, please contact the voluntary services team on 01279 96 2660, to receive an application pack by email or in the post.

Note: You will need to have a right to work in the UK in order to become a volunteer at PAHT.

Together, we can create a warm and welcoming hospital environment for our patients and their families. We look forward to welcoming you to our team.

For more information or to discuss volunteering opportunities at PAHT, please email: paht.volunteers@nhs.net.

We are passionate about the local population having access to new, innovative treatment with all patients having the right to take part in clinical research.

Our research and development team delivers cutting edge research, enabling new models of care to improve patient safety and care, both in the present and for the future. They research into a variety of health conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to new surgical procedures.

Patients and the public are vital to success of research in the NHS. Without patients volunteering to take part in research, we would not be able to develop the investigations for the use of the latest medicines and medical devices, developing less invasive tests for the diagnosis of cancer or looking at the prevention of health problems through the collection of questionnaires and/or blood samples.

We cover all aspects of clinical research, whilst keeping patients safe, through setting up studies and applying all nationally recognised regulatory approvals.

Read more and how to get involved >

The Princess Alexandra Hopsitals Charity

We hold a number of charitable fundraisers throughout the year; you can get involved by attending, contributing to and supporting these events.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital's Charity (registered charity no. 1054745) supports patients, staff and visitors at the trust. Our charity is dedicated to enhancing patient care, purchasing special equipment, improving facilities and investing in vital research which is beyond the scope or limits of the NHS.

Our charity supports thousands of patients, staff and visitors every year. Donations are sometimes made as a 'thank you' to staff, in memory of a loved one or simply to acknowledge excellent service. By supporting our charity, you will be helping to enhance services for future generations.

You can find more information on our fundraisers and donate to the charity via our JustGiving page.

If you would like to find out more about the work we are doing please take a look at our Twitter and Facebook page.

 

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust - Breast Unit at St Margaret's Hospital

The Breast Unit is one of the largest breast cancer clinical trials facilities in Hertfordshire, Essex and North London. The charity in has raised over £3 million, which has been used to purchase specialist equipment, introduce new initiatives and fund further research into the breast cancer. We continue to raise money for breast cancer clinical trials in order that we can improve understanding and help find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat different kinds of breast cancer.

We are based at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow and St Margaret's Hospital, Epping where approximately 350 new patients are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Of these, 10% would benefit from treatments that are not standard on the NHS. The charity hopes to fund these treatment options and train specialists in providing the new treatments. The charity wishes to raise sufficient funds to build a central cancer unit covering diagnosis and treatment to ensure continuity in care. We bid nationally to be one of the main centres for conducting breast cancer trials and for the patients in the local area. This means that they could have access to investigational medicines that previously were only available when participating in clinical trials in hospitals based in central London.

Find out more about the Breast unit charity at St Margaret's.