Image from BfN South Coast Volunteers’ Week Celebration
#VolunteersWeek coincided with Portsmouth’s preparations to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. I do not want to over-play the connection here and as our Portsmouth team make very clear in their celebratory video, a key part of BfN volunteering is having fun! I was however, struck by a common thread of dedicated service, a commitment to making a real difference, an empathy with people in similar life circumstances and getting on with what is needed to make that difference. The words ‘thank you’ don’t feel adequate to express the gratitude felt by so many; although it’s a message I really want to get across today.
The Portsmouth group I visited is buzzing now, and part of a co-ordinated Family Hub in which parents are referred between different services with increasing ease. When I visited, our skilled peer supporters were grateful for an extra pair of washing up and tea making hands so that they could do what they do best! I learnt about the hard graft and incredible determination of volunteers showing up week after week, to get the group established and gradually build trust with the local community to get to this point. A real inspiration!
In Muswell Hill volunteers, staff and partner organisations from Haringey and Islington welcomed me. That same determination and reputation for delivering exceptional quality support to all mums and families has led to an expansion of both services. The Haringey team were celebrating Volunteers’ Week and launching in a brand new Family Hub on the day of my visit. The feedback of both the local Infant Feeding lead and partner, ABC Parents, again reinforced the unparalleled breastfeeding knowledge, skills and service standards of our super dedicated teams.
Image from Haringey Volunteers’ Week Celebration
In March 2024, BfN and ABM launched the NBH@Night service, taking the hours of the National Breastfeeding Helpline to 24 hours every day of the year. This important pilot has meant deepening my own understanding of the established volunteer-run National Breastfeeding Helpline and Drugs in Breastmilk Information Services. We have the opportunity to pilot a night-time service because of the work of these exceptional volunteer teams.
Their infant feeding knowledge, expertise and skills in working with all parents from where they are at, are trusted –for good reason- by healthcare professionals across the UK, who refer women and families to the NBH and BfN in large numbers. Every volunteer’s contribution is valued and we are delighted to train and welcome new volunteers. This year, we introduced new long service awards recognising volunteers who have been taking calls for up to 15 or 20 years.
Across BfN, volunteers donated a record 35,439 hours of skilled support to mums, parents and families in 2023-4. This is a 7% increase on last year’s already incredible contribution and an amazing national service to families and communities across the UK.
Image from BfN South Coast Volunteers’ Week Celebration
Whilst Volunteers’ Week is an important moment to celebrate and be grateful for this service, I regularly pinch myself as I consider both the impressive scale and the quality of this contribution. Not only do our volunteers contribute an immense amount of time, alongside their own families and often, work commitments, BfN volunteers complete accredited training, attend regular supervision and continually update their knowledge and skills.
The increase in this contribution is all the more incredible at a time when research by Nottingham Trent University’s National Observatory on the Voluntary and Community Sector and Pro Bono Economics shows that 60% of organisations are struggling to attract volunteers and 58% say the time contributed by their volunteers has not increased.
One of the fabulous children’s drawings shared with us to mark Volunteers’ Week (please check these out on social media!) includes the beautiful bubble-writing headline: ‘Not all superheroes wear capes’.
Picture drawn by a volunteer’s child for Volunteers’ Week
Not all heroes fight on the frontlines either. The evident relief, gratitude and often, joy, of families whose lives are improved by the outstanding service that BfN volunteers provide shows that our volunteers are nonetheless heroes who to parents, often with great humility, become like life savers.