Life of A Volunteer - The Young Ones

I've officially been given my Radio Lollipop name, which was slightly my idea! I used to watch a program, back in the day, called The Young Ones, and one of the characters was called Neil. His house mates used to pick on him, and called him Neil Neil Orange Peel, so it sort of seemed a fun name to go for.

I've been at Radio Lollipop for a year and I must say it’s been an amazing experience so far. I remember my 1st shift at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH); me being quite nervous and not knowing what to expect. But the team were so welcoming and friendly, and they really helped in showing me the ropes.

The main reason I decided to join Radio Lollipop was to give something back to society. I absolutely love children, and I love putting smiles on their faces, and I think I'm pretty good at it. In my working live, I visit 4-5 houses per day, and sometimes I meet the customers children. A lot of the time they can be quite shy, with a stranger coming into their home, so my aim before I leave is to get them chatting and smiling. So I suppose this is also my aim every week when I'm on the wards.

The other reason I joined was because my son was a premature baby, and was born 9 weeks early. Luckily he didn't need the services of GOSH, but he did spend the 1st 2 months of his life in a special care unit in my local hospital. So I've seen first hand what a wonderful job the doctors and nurses do.

Sometimes when I've had a long, hard day at work, or not feeling great, it can be hard to pick yourself up to get up into London. But once I see the kids, my worries just seem to disappear.

My highlights of the year to be honest, are every week coming into GOSH. But if I was to choose, I would have to say the Xmas party that I helped out at, was one of the best experiences of my life. To see all those amazing children, having fun and meeting all the amazing volunteers, was without a doubt my highlight of the my 1st year.

I do feel extremely proud and honoured to wear the uniform, and to have been welcomed into the team. Here's to many more years at Radio Lollipop.