Publish date: 5 February 2024
To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2024, we spoke to Jack Fisher – volunteer with the Northumbria Volunteer Service (NVS) turned apprentice.
Jack discusses the impact volunteering has had on his personal and professional development, and what he’s most looking forward to in his apprenticeship.
My name is Jack, I’m 18 years old and live in North Tyneside. Back in July 2023, after finishing school, I began volunteering with the Northumbria Volunteer Service (NVS) as I wanted to gain work experience, develop my interpersonal skills and make a positive impact in the hospital environment.
I began working in Harry’s café at North Tyneside General Hospital and got to be part of a wonderful team of both volunteers and paid staff who were all extremely welcoming and helpful. I got to do a variety of tasks in Harry’s, such as serving the customers, preparing food and drinks and restocking.
I particularly enjoyed serving customers on the tills, who were both patients and staff and were always friendly and talkative. Having this sort of public facing role exposed me to a diverse group of people, which felt rewarding but also hugely helped me improve my communication skills, self-confidence, and customer service skills.
I also found that it gave me a fantastic sense of purpose and belonging. In addition, working in what can be a very busy environment, helped me to develop team working skills and resilience.
Not only did volunteering help my personal development, but I also found it really enjoyable and feel it improved my mental health. The team make the shifts really fun and the voluntary service organisers work extremely hard to make sure the volunteers are happy. I always felt there was a great sense of camaraderie amongst the team and everyone felt equally appreciated and valued.
After working in Harry’s for a few months I started to realise I wanted a career in the NHS. Through working there, I had found out the Northumbria Healthcare offers apprenticeships. I was lucky enough to find a vacancy in October 2023 for a level 3 business administration apprenticeship and be successful in my application.
I began my employment with the trust at the end of January and have so far been really enjoying it. Apprentices get both on and off the job training, including weekly study periods, taught sessions as well as a work placement. My placement is in the Patient Experience team, and they are a fantastic team of lovely people and I’m learning a lot by working with them.
In summary, I think volunteering in the hospital is a fantastic thing for any young person to do both for their own personal growth, as well as making a contribution to society.
I’m so thankful for skills I learnt through volunteering and the boost to my self-confidence.
So, for any young person who’s unsure of what career path they want to go, I’d thoroughly recommend giving the volunteering a go. It’s a brilliant opportunity to gain an insight into the hospital whilst gaining new skills that are transferable to any job role.