Volunteering Opportunities Welcome to our volunteering opportunities webpage! This is where you can read about all the volunteering roles available across NHS Lothian. Whether you are looking to volunteer at a large hospital or would prefer to volunteer at a smaller community hospital, we have you covered. Got question? Check out our volunteering FAQs page which answers some of the most commonly asked questions about volunteering with us. Please note that to volunteer with us you need to: Be aged 16 or over (for some roles this is 18 or over) Be able to make a regular weekly commitment for two or more hours a week at the same time and day each week Volunteer with us for a minimum of six months Receive and share with us satisfactory appropriate clearance from Disclosure Scotland (this is completed by us as part of your application, you do not need to pay for this yourself) Where applicable receive occupational health clearance for agreed role Actively participate and engage in our volunteer induction training Current Hospital Based Volunteering Opportunities St John’s Hospital (West Lothian) We have a small number of opportunities in the Maternity Ward of St John’s Hospital to support the patients and staff. This role will be ideal for anyone considering a Midwife career in the future or if you have experience in working in that field already. The role requires good communication skills, empathy, care and compassion and we ask volunteers to commit to volunteering for a minimum of 6 months. The shifts available are: Wednesday 1pm – 3pm (weekly) Thursday 1pm – 3pm (Fortnightly) Saturday and Sunday 1pm – 3pm (Weekly) Please have a look at the Maternity Ward Helper role description to find out more. If you would like to volunteer in this role and are available on these days and times then please apply via our online application form when recruitment opens on Monday 22nd September 2025. Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Western General Hospital We are recruiting to a number of roles across the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the Western General Hospital. Ward Helper: We’re looking for day-time support during the week Monday to Friday but can consider a small number of applications for evenings and weekends. Meaningful Activity Volunteers: We’re looking for support in our Medicine of the Elderly wards, primarily in the late afternoon and evening. Welcome Guides: We’re looking for volunteers available throughout the week in either mornings (10am – 12pm) or afternoons (1pm – 3pm). OPD Assistant: We’re looking for volunteers to support some of our Outpatient Clinics, including our Dialysis Unit at the Royal Infirmary. Ideal hours to suit these clinics are between 9am-4pm Monday to Saturday. If you would like to volunteer in any of these roles and are available on these days and times then please apply via our online application form when recruitment opens on Monday 22nd September 2025. Opportunities to take part in Clinical Research Trials Our Clinical Infection Research Group (CiRG) facilitates research studies for a range of common UK infections e.g., flu and COVID. Many of these studies require volunteers aged 18-99 to take part for example in testing different interventions, e.g., vaccines or sharing experiences. For more information about taking part in clinical research trials you can email CiRG at Loth.CIRGregister@nhs.scot or you can find out more at www.cirg-edinburgh.co.uk Volunteering Opportunities with our Third Sector Partners Volunteer with RNID’s Near You Service Volunteers supporting RNID will make a valuable difference to people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus. Any contribution you make as a volunteer, no matter how small, can have a big impact on the people we support in communities across Edinburgh & Lothians. To find out more about their current opportunities with the Near You service follow the link below: RNID Near You volunteer, Lothians/Edinburgh – RNID Volunteer at the Children’s Hospital with Radio Lollipop One in four children are admitted to a hospital before reaching age 14. Radio Lollipop believes in the healing power of play – providing smiles and laughter to children at a time when they need it most. Though some patients are short-stay, many have a recurring need for care and return repeatedly to hospital. Some who are terminally ill spend much of their short lives in hospital. Radio Lollipop gives young patients a voice and a choice during their stay. While they can´t say “no” to taking their medicine or receiving treatment, they can request their favourite songs, win prizes and hear their own voices on the radio. Those activities give youngsters a haven of normality in the hospital day which in other respects is strange, different and often scary. Each Radio Lollipop Volunteer must be aged 18 or older and able to give a commitment of 2 hours per week of interactive play with children using a comprehensive range of fun and interactive activities developed over the years by Radio Lollipop. A broadcast radio studio is part of the armory of activities in our “toy box” and is provided at most of the hospitals where the Radio Lollipop service operates, providing a unique child-orientated programme of interactive competitions, music, stories and games. If you want to be part of the magic that is Radio Lollipop and putting Play In Place of Pain for children spending time in hospital, come along to one of our volunteer information days at Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Ground Floor, Out Patients, 50 Little France Crescent Edinburgh EH16 4TJ on: Sunday 19th October 2025 between 2-4pm Alternatively visit us at Radio Lollipop – Play In Place Of Pain or email us at vcnew.edinburgh@radiolollipop.org.
