Ambulance service celebrates its volunteers for National Volunteer Week

Over 400 North East residents volunteer their spare time to support North East Ambulance (NEAS) and as part of the week-long campaign to celebrate Volunteers Week (2-8 June), we’re recognising our community first responders, ambulance care service drivers, porters, community ambassadors, and governors.

Over the last 12 months, NEAS volunteers have dedicated 216,500 of hours of their time to support the service. This included community first responders who have volunteered over 41,000 hours and over 77,870 patients have been transported by our ambulance car service drivers.

The volunteer cohort is made up of four unique roles which benefit the service in several ways.

• 112 community first responders who are based across the region and are trained to deal with emergencies prior to the arrival of an ambulance; over the last year they have attended 1,850 incidents and have collectively volunteered over 41,000 hours for the service in 2024/25, equating to 1,715 days and respond to serious emergencies such as cardiac arrests.

• 119 ambulance car service drivers who in the past year alone have transported over 77,870 patients and have travelled over 28 million miles using their own vehicles to drive patients to and from appointments at hospital, which helps keep ambulances free for emergencies and patients who are too poorly to travel by car.

• 23 hospital porters who work across the regions hospitals and are the first point of contact for non-life-threatening patients once they arrive at hospital;  allowing ambulance crews to get back on the road and respond to more emergencies.

• 145 community ambassadors who work alongside our engagement team and within their local communities to raise awareness of our services and life-saving skills like CPR; this work includes hosting CPR and defibrillator sessions to increase the general public’s knowledge of bystander CPR.

•  NEAS has 19 public governors, three staff governors, plus two appointed governors. Our governors play a vital role in reviewing the performance of our Board and the contribution our service makes to the wider health and care system, providing an essential link to the communities we serve.

NEAS chief operating officer, Stephen Segasby said: “Our volunteers continue to work hard, every day, and we are very proud of them.  They have provided unmatched support for the service and displayed a great, dedicated, care for patients across the region; it is an honour to be able to recognise and thank them for this.

“The commitment our volunteers give to NEAS, as well as the patients & communities we serve, is exceptional, selfless and taken out of their own time.  The service and I cannot thank them enough for the work that they do and our volunteer team too.”

Find out how you can volunteer with NEAS here:  https://www.neas.nhs.uk/join-team-neas/volunteers

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