Patient Buddy Volunteer

Location: Royal Edinburgh Community Garden, Morningside, Edinburgh EH10 5HF. See on a map here.

Time commitment: A few of hours a week on either Thursdays (9:30am – 12:30pm) or Fridays (1-4pm).

We are flexible on when you can volunteer. Just let us know your availability and preferences. You need to be able commit for at least 12 weeks.

What is the Royal Edinburgh Hospital community garden?

Our community garden at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital is an NHS Lothian initiative. We want to make opportunities for good food and healthy lifestyles available to the local communities in which NHS Lothian hospitals are based. 

We aim to provide a beautiful, interesting and relaxing space for patients, their visitors and hospital staff. We also do activities and services for patients, using the garden and its resources as our base. The gardens have a particular focus on welcoming people who are experiencing mental or physical health problems, disadvantage, isolation and / or poverty.

What will you do as a volunteer?

Volunteers take part in garden activities under the guidance and support of the Garden Coordinator. You will be supporting and encouraging your ‘buddy’ to come to the garden and do activities. This might mean supporting them to:

• attend a gardening session
• meeting them in the garden for a walk and a chat
• encouraging them to do some gardening or craft activities with you.

Your support and encouragement can help your buddy to:

• engage with gardening activities to benefit their physical and mental health.
• relax and de-stress by spending some time in a green space.
• reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation.
• learn and share skills and knowledge.
• increase self-confidence
• create links with the local community and develop informal support networks.

It is important as a buddy to know and be aware that recovery is possible yet will look different to each person. Every person should be defined by their interests and dreams, rather than by any diagnosis or symptoms they might have. 

We will provide support and training needed for you to engage with the tasks in a safe manner.

You can find more details about this volunteering opportunity in the decription below.  

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to the Garden Coordinatory, Kathryn, via email on: KathrynBailey@cyrenians.scot