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.
Once you have found a suitable opportunity from the list below, please fill in our online volunteering application form opens a new window.
Got question? Check out our volunteering FAQs page opens a new window 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
Youth Volunteering Programme – Recruitment Now Open
Our Youth Volunteering Programme is now open.
Who is this programme suitable for?
- Are you aged 16-25?
- Are you looking to volunteer in a hospital setting?
- Perhaps you’re considering future employment within health and social care or just looking to gain experience and build your CV?
If so, our Youth Volunteering Programme might be for you. Open to applications twice a year, our youth volunteering programme enables young people aged 16-25 the unique opportunity to volunteer within a hospital setting.
To apply to this programme you must be available to attend one of our upcoming interview and training dates which can be found on our application page opens a new window.
Our Youth Volunteering Programme is recruiting to the following sites and roles:
St John’s Hospital, EH54 6PP
About this site
St John’s Hospital is a modern teaching hospital that provides a comprehensive and expanding range of services including: Medicine of the Elderly, Oncology, Maternity, Ear, Nose and Throat, the Regional Eating Disorder Unit and Stroke Medicine. The hospital is based in Livingston, and has a 24-hour Accident and Emergency department.
Our Youth Volunteering Programme is currently recruiting to:
Ward Helpers opens a new window and Meaningful Activity Volunteers opens a new window
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, EH16 4SA
About this site
The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is a major acute teaching hospital located in South Edinburgh. With a 24-hour accident and emergency department, it provides a full range of acute medical and surgical services for patients from across Lothian and specialist services for people from across the south-east of Scotland and beyond.
Our Youth Volunteering Programme is currently recruiting to:
Ward Helpers opens a new window and Meaningful Activity Volunteers opens a new window
Western General Hospital, EH4 2XU
About this site
The Western General Hospital provides a comprehensive range of general and specialist services to the people of Edinburgh, Lothian and beyond. The hospital is home to the regional centre for Cancer and Infectious Diseases Unit, and the award-wining, nurse-led Minor Injuries Clinic.
Our Youth Volunteering Programme is currently recruiting to:
Volunteer with NHS Lothian Charity
We are currently recruiting volunteers to support our green spaces across NHS Lothian.
The Green Health Programme opens a new window run by NHS Lothian Charity focuses on making hospital gardens and outdoor spaces beneficial for everyone – patients, staff, and visitors. We know spending time in nature is good for our health, so the Charity work to keep these spaces beautiful and accessible. Whether someone is walking in the garden or looking out a window, we want them to feel comfortable and relaxed.
We also care deeply about protecting nature. Our gardening work helps support local wildlife and plant diversity. As a volunteer, you’ll be a key part of maintaining these spaces in a way that’s good for both people and the environment.
We are recruiting volunteer gardeners opens a new window to support this work across the following sites/days/times:
- Astley Ainslie Hospital – Monday – Wednesday, opportunities available between 9am-5pm
- Western General Hospital – Monday – Friday, opportunities available between 9am-5pm
- Royal Edinburgh Hospital – Monday – Wednesday, opportunities available between 9am-5pm
- Midlothian Community Hospital – Monday – Friday, opportunities available between 9am-5pm
If you are interested in finding out more or applying to these opportunities, please email Loth.VolunteerEnquiries@nhs.scot opens a new window
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 opens a new window or you can find out more at www.cirg-edinburgh.co.uk opens a new window
Volunteering Opportunities with our Third Sector Partners
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 opens a new window or email us at vcnew.edinburgh@radiolollipop.org opens a new window.
