Volunteer's vocal talents spread Christmas cheer at Northampton Hospital

Some of the volunteers who sang on the Christmas single

Volunteers at Northampton General Hospital have joined forces with students at Northampton College to record a Christmas charity single in aid of the hospital volunteer service.

The single was the idea of Head of Volunteer Services, Emma Wimpress, who wanted to do something different to raise money for the service. With support from the team of volunteers and Northampton College, a remix of the 12 Days of Christmas was created which includes lyrics such as such as ‘five cups of tea’ and ‘a volunteer to help in every way’. 

The song is available to download now on Spotify, Deezer, Google Play and Bandcamp with money from the sale of the song going to the volunteer services team.

Emma explained “We wanted to do something to highlight the fantastic work that our volunteers do to support the hospital. With Christmas approaching we thought that the 12 days of Christmas would be a perfect chance to get the volunteers involved in something new and celebrate the diversity of their roles.

“Volunteers including those who help in our pharmacy department, ward buddy’s, hospital guides, buggy drivers and library volunteers all came together to record the single. We hope that it’s given our volunteers a fun experience and can help to raise some much needed funds for the upkeep of our buggy service”.

The funds raised from the sale of the single will contribute towards the upkeep of the buggy service at the hospital. The service runs daily to transport patients and visitors around the hospital site free of charge. The service is entirely managed by the volunteer team and funded thanks to the generosity of the community and fundraising efforts of the volunteers.

Volunteer Bob Faichnie who sang on the recording, said “The song was one of Emma’s ideas and she rang to find volunteers to volunteer, so I said yes! We always enjoy getting involved in the things that Emma does to support the service.

“We met one evening at the college and we went straight into the recording and had a great time doing it. I could never confess to being a singer but I do play a bit of music, nothing like this.

“It was a great thing to be involved in and it’s a lovely thing to do it’s about NGH and this is a real positive thing focussing on the nice things”.

Students at Northampton College helped with the production of the single as part of their work and filmed a music video to accompany the video. Christopher Robinson, Lecturer in Music Production at Northampton College described the experience this has provided for the students “Working with the Northampton General Hospital volunteers writing, producing and recording the Twelve days of Christmas single has been an absolute pleasure. Emma and the volunteers have been supportive throughout and have provided our students with an eye opening opportunity to see the hard work carried by all of the volunteers while working on a creative project.

“It was intriguing to hear some of the stories behind why and how each of the volunteers had chosen to support the patients and staff at Northampton General Hospital, which really helped bring realism and build awareness in regards to the importance of volunteering and supporting our local community. This in turn has inspired our students to seek out potential volunteering opportunities along with creative musical projects that will benefit the local community within the next year of study”.

If you would like to volunteer at Northampton General Hospital please visit www.northamptongeneral.nhs.uk
You can donate to the volunteer service by contacting the Northamptonshire Health Charity https://www.nhcfgreenheart.co.uk/