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.

Please use the dropdowns below to find out information about the sites you can volunteer at across NHS Lothian and the roles available at each site. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that there are sites close to your home/work/school that you were not aware of! To find out all about the different tasks and activities you can get involved in as a volunteer, you can download the role descriptions available at each site too.

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 (exception of Bridge Builder volunteers)
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

Volunteering within Mental Health

The Royal Edinburgh Hospital

The Royal Edinburgh Hospital (REH) provides acute and rehabilitative psychiatric and mental health services, including treatment for those with learning disabilities and dementia. Specialist services at REH include centres for the treatment of substance misuse, eating disorders, a forensic unit and a national neurorehabilitation unit for people with an acquired brain injury.

Our Volunteer Hub works alongside clinical teams across the hospital to develop and promote a wide range of volunteering opportunities for in-patients, who volunteer alongside members of the public in an ethos of equality. The Hub aims to promote happiness, wellbeing and recovery through meaningful activity. Volunteer roles help create moments of calm, purpose, and achievement, enable people to flourish during difficult times, and enrich the lives of patients and the wider hospital community.

The Royal Edinburgh Hospital Volunteer Hub are looking to recruit a small team of Volunteer Gardeners.

As the first hospital in Scotland to receive the prestigious Green Flag Award, REH has a reputation for environmental excellence, embedded in its strong commitment to nurture the site’s greenspaces, enhancing connection with nature and promoting wellbeing for the hospital and local communities. Many of the wards have their own enclosed courtyard gardens, so that those unable to leave the ward can still access greenspaces for some peace and reflection. There are also public garden areas where staff, patients and visitors can enjoy the sights and sounds of the outdoors.

Though this is not a patient engagement role, volunteers’ green fingered help will really benefit the hospital community. The role includes undertaking a variety of seasonal, garden-based tasks and outdoor maintenance. Prospective volunteers should already have strong gardening experience and knowledge about outdoor plants, a non-judgemental attitude, as well as initiative and the ability to work independently or as part of a small team.

If you would like to help us maintain our greenspaces, we’d love to hear from you! For more information, please contact loth.rehvolunteering@nhs.scot

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

Within this space we will share the details of any of our third sector charity partners who are recruiting to volunteering roles which are based within, alongside or as part of NHS Lothian services or buildings.

Volunteer with The Health Agency

The Health Agency is a charity based in the Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre dedicated to supporting residents of South-West Edinburgh to lead longer, healthier, more fulfilling lives.

As part of this they offer several Heath Walks in partnership with Walking Scotland and are currently seeking volunteer Walk Leaders.

If you love walking and wish to share your passion and encourage others, they would like to hear from you! To find out more about this opportunity contact Louise@thehealthagency.org.uk or call 07400 740 385.

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.

artworks 000335489664 6di995 t500x500 (002)

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 21st June 2026, from 2pm to 4pm.

Alternatively visit us at Radio Lollipop – Play In Place Of Pain or email us at vcnew.edinburgh@radiolollipop.org.