This Christmas, our Non-emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS) volunteer car drivers are serving free hot drinks and snacks for our crews and other volunteers at the Florence Nightingale Community Hospital, in Derby, to thank them for their hard work and commitment to patient care.
Opening from 09.30 to 14.30 hours from 16 to 20 December 2024, the refreshment desk welcomes all EMAS staff to come say hello, get a drink and share the festive cheer with one another. Other than these dates, it normally runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The refreshment desk is located close to the main entrance of the hospital, just past the reception. The drinks and and snack options on offer are tea, coffee, soup, hot chocolate, sausage rolls, biscuits, mince pies and Christmas cakes plus other goodies.
In addition to some financial input from EMAS, David Pollock (middle in below picture), who came up with the idea, has largely funded this initiative himself. David is also part of the NEPTS volunteer car drivers service (VCS).
When asking David why he wishes to support this, he said he suffered an illness 15 years ago and he received fantastic treatment from the NHS:
"I always wanted to put something back into the NHS, and thus working as a volunteer car driver has given me the opportunity to do so.
"The team has had a base at the Florence Nightingale Community Hospital for a few years where volunteers come for stock. We spotted the opportunity last Christmas to put on a few drinks and snacks for staff and volunteers to get together, have some chats and share experiences. Christmas is about love and sharing so we decided to run a full work week this winter and I hope we will meet some more new faces there soon."
Julie Trolley, NEPTS VCS Manager, said,
"David and the volunteers are an inspiration to us all by giving up their own time and effort, to greet and chat with our ambulance crews and other volunteers, while providing them with drinks and snacks. Having visited the desk on a couple of occasions I am always greeted with a warm friendly welcome, and a lovely cuppa!"
"I am hugely grateful to David and the team for their volunteering efforts. A job well done! Keep up the great work."
Interested to be part of the NEPTS Voluntary Car Driver team? More details can be found on EMAS website: Volunteer Car Drivers :: East Midlands Ambulance Service
Understand more about Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service: Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service :: East Midlands Ambulance Service