AS PART of this week’s National Volunteers’ Week a Worcestershire health body has launched a scheme offering staff volunteering opportunities.

Staff working for NHS South Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group are being offered the chance to spent time volunteering or with a community group to build their confidence, improve leadership skills and gain other useful skills.

The organisation’s director of corporate and organisational development Lucy Noon has taken the opportunity to volunteer at Wildgoose Rural Training Centre in Holt Heath – a facility providing training, educational and therapeutic opportunities for people with disabilities and behavioural problems.

She described the chance to volunteer at the centre as “a fantastic opportunity”.

“I was made to feel very welcome and got stuck into a number of outdoor projects that they were working on,” she said.

“I’ve built up a great relationship with the centre and will be going back in the near future to see how they’re getting on.

“I have really benefitted from this experience and will be encouraging all the staff at the CCG to take some time out to see the brilliant work that is happening at voluntary and community organisations across Worcestershire.”

Other organisations involved in the scheme include Age UK, St John Ambulance, Deaf Direct and Rethink Mental Illness.