Now that's a helping hand! From the granny who comforts patients under the knife to the widower who's got a new lease of life, meet some of the Mail heroes transforming our hospitals

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When we asked Daily Mail readers to volunteer, you answered the call in droves. The influx boosted Helpforce’s army by 44 per cent to 112,000. Since our Christmas campaign, Helpforce has matched more than 21,000 readers with volunteering opportunities in roles that range from running refreshment trolleys to encouraging stroke patients to speak again. Here, we tell the stories of just a few of those amazing people who signed up to give the NHS a helping hand . . .

I’m a hand-holder for eye op patients

Helen Grimmett is a volunteer who signed up to help as a 'hand holder' for an eye operating theatre in Leighton Hospital in Crewe after the Daily Mail / HelpForce campaign

Helen Grimmett, 66, a retired finance officer and grandmother of four, lives with husband Michael, 70, in Middlewich, Cheshire. She volunteers as a ‘hand-holder’ during eye operations at Leighton Hospital in Crewe.

When I signed up I never imagined I’d be in an operating theatre, but now every Wednesday afternoon I’m in scrubs. My job is ‘hand-holder’ to patients having eye surgery — mainly cataract operations — which is done while they are awake.

It’s important they keep very still — if they squeeze my hand, that is a signal for me to tell the surgeon to stop if they are about to cough or sneeze, for instance.

The patients say they like the reassurance. Luckily, I’m not squeamish and find watching the operations on a big screen fascinating. I’m even included in the team briefing; it’s great to be a part of it.

What I do is a small thing, but it can make a big difference and it suits me to have a specific purpose. After five years of retirement I’d got a bit bored — I’d done a lot of gardening and helped out with the grandchildren, but wanted a new challenge. The Mail’s volunteering campaign appealed to me, as I’d wanted to be a nurse when I was younger but somehow the time was never right.

The NHS has saved my life three times — the first was when I was rushed to hospital with an ectopic pregnancy [where a fertilised egg attaches to a fallopian tube] and I could have bled to death.

Thirteen years ago, I was successfully treated for early-stage breast cancer, and later a malignant melanoma skin cancer was removed from my shoulder.

Five years ago my husband Michael had a hip replacement, so we’ve had our money’s worth out of the health service. I’m so glad we don’t have a system where you have to produce a credit card before they’ll treat you.

After I retired I missed the companionship of work but I’ve already made some new friends among the other volunteers, and I look forward to Wednesday afternoons.

I love just making a sad patient smile

Edwina Cox (left) who is an NHS Volunteer at Whipp's Cross Hospital , Leytonstone, London. Edwina signed up for the Daily Mail's Christmas NHS volunteer campaign

Edwina Cox, 55, a flight attendant (pictured right), lives in Walthamstow, North-East London. She volunteers at Whipp’s Cross Hospital in London on the refreshment trolley.

When I was a teenager I wanted to be a nurse but instead I spent most of my career in London’s West End, performing in musicals such as Chicago and My Fair Lady. Four years ago, I gave that up to become a flight attendant, which I absolutely love, but I often have long breaks between flights.

As an Australian living in the UK for 27 years, I have a great deal of admiration for the NHS and I’d been thinking of doing something like this for about five years, but never got round to it. Then, when I read about the campaign in the Mail, it spurred me to act.

My role is to take refreshments round on a trolley — similar to my day job — and chat to patients. I mainly work in A&E and a ward for older ladies. Being an ex-performer I’m not afraid to just strike up a conversation — asking someone if they’d like a nice cup of tea is a real icebreaker.

I try to be a friendly face at a time when a patient may be feeling nervous. I have to check with the nurses to see who can have a drink or food and who can’t, but I can help with opening packets and clearing away trays.

I find it rewarding to make someone smile who had been looking sad. There are lots of people like me out there who want to do simple acts of kindness and don’t know where to start — Helpforce is perfect, as they can do as much or as little as they are able to.

One week I might just do a couple of hours, another week three four or five-hour shifts, if I want. It’s nice to feel part of the NHS community — the nurses are glad of the help. When you do something out of love for free, it is so fulfilling.

I volunteered with my sister

Elaine Matthews, 64, a retired civil servant and lives with her sister Carol, 68, a retired teacher, in Stockton-on-Tees. Both volunteer at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust, where Elaine has started on the elderly care ward.

When I read about the Mail’s campaign, my sister Carol and I decided it was something we could do together and we liked the idea of doing something useful for the NHS — it’s always there when you need it.

I can talk the hind leg off a donkey, so talking to strangers in a hospital doesn’t faze me at all. Originally, I’d said I might like to help on the ‘meet and greet’ desk, but I realised I’d be hopeless at giving directions, so instead I help out on a ward for the elderly.

In the Civil Service I was a union rep, so I like to think I can lend a sympathetic ear — I wouldn’t like to do work that someone else could be paid for, but this work is useful to the NHS without taking anyone’s job away.

I have to admit it was a bit of a shock to the system being on my feet for two-and-a-half hours after not working for five years — I’d forgotten what work was like, but it what I do feels so worthwhile.

We free up staff to do their vital work

Lynda Bick, 70, a retired bank clerk, grandmother and great-grandmother (pictured right), lives with her husband, David, 73, in Highnam, Gloucester. She is a volunteer receptionist at the Southgate Moorings Clinic in Gloucester.

Lynda Bick from Gloucester, Gloucestershire. Lynda signed up for the Daily Mail Helpforce campaign at Christmas and is now volunteering at the NHS Southgate Moorings Clinic in Gloucester

My mum Janet died at 88 five years ago, but despite arthritis, cataracts and then bowel cancer, she was able to live at home until the end of her life, thanks to faultless nursing and community care. I’ve always felt I’d like to give something back.

I started ten weeks ago at Southgate Moorings, a community clinic. It’s all very flexible and I was asked to choose the time that suited me, so I opted for three hours on a Monday afternoon.

The clinic is a hub for a lot of community-based services including diabetes care, speech therapy and podiatry — my job is to check people in and direct them to the loos or where to get a drink. I know being a volunteer receptionist isn’t the be-all and end-all, but it frees up staff for important jobs.

Sometimes an elderly patient will say: ‘You’re the first person I’ve spoken to in days.’ One man was delighted when I greeted him by his name, as I’d seen him before and we’ve built up a good rapport. It’s little things like that which make a difference.

I’ve enjoyed volunteering so much, I have now signed up to train as a conversation volunteer to visit stroke patients at home and encourage them to speak again. I’m quite chatty and hopefully I can be helpful to them.

I've always had the urge to be useful

Fred Rogers, a retired education administrator who has signed up for the Daily Mail Helpforce NHS volunteers campaign at Christmas and is now working as a volunteer at Birmingham Women's Hospital and loving it

Fred Rogers, 71, a retired school administrator and grandfather of six (pictured right), lives in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands with his wife Mary-Anne, 59, who also works in education. He is a ‘meet and greet‘ volunteer at Birmingham Women’s Hospital.

The NHS has never let me down — 18 months ago when Mary-Anne suddenly went downhill with a fever, it was our GP who spotted it was sepsis and she was put straight on intravenous antibiotics and recovered in four days.

That experience is partly why I wanted to help the NHS. Mary-Anne knew I’d been looking for voluntary work to keep me busy in retirement — I’m always on the go and can’t sit still, and thought it would suit me.

In the Nineties, I used to volunteer in a hospice and found the work very rewarding, so I suppose you could say I’ve always had the urge to make myself useful.

I filled out the application form on the Helpforce website just before Christmas and a couple of months later I was invited for a chat and offered the chance to work on reception. I started about six weeks ago — I do four hours a week — and already feel at home. I either give directions or escort people to where they have to be.

Too many retired people don’t think they have up-to-date skills to volunteer, but there is always some way to make yourself useful. And after five years of retirement I just like being part of a team again and meeting new people.

Photocopying in an office? No problem

Mike Stevens 63, a retired human resources director and a father of two, lives with his wife Gill, 62, near Nantwich in Cheshire. Mike is an admin and dehydration volunteer at Leighton Hospital in Crewe.

If it wasn’t for the Daily Mail campaign I would have had no idea there were so many people working as volunteers in the NHS, and would probably never have bothered to volunteer myself.

But when I read about it, I thought what a good idea it was — and I realised I wanted to give something back to the hospital that saved Gill’s life. A couple of years ago she had surgery on her sinuses and developed meningitis — she became dangerously ill, spending three days in intensive care and two weeks in a high-dependency unit. I was so impressed with the care she received that I had to sign up.

I’m now working for the hospital in two capacities for four hours a week in total — first, helping a training team with their admin, tidying up the database and doing photocopying for educational packs. I may have had a senior job in the past, but I have zero qualms about doing the photocopying if that’s what needs doing. One of the team said that if I hadn’t been there, she would have stayed late to get it all done, so it’s nice to think I’m helping.

I also help out on a dementia ward, where my main role is to make sure everyone keeps on drinking — dehydration is a big issue in hospitals. I fill up the water jugs on the bedside lockers, offer people a drink and have a chat. I try to treat the patients like my own parents, who would have been the same age if they were still alive.

I help on the ward where my wife was

Richard Drew, 54, a former sales and marketing manager, and widower (pictured right), lives with his sons James, 21, Jonathan, 16, and Adam, 15, in Watton-at-Stone, Herts. He is a mealtime assistant at the Lister Hospital in London.

Daily Mail Volunteer Richard Drew at Lister Hospital, Stevenage (right)

Last summer my wife Liz became breathless and had pain in her pelvis; the doctors found she had cancer all through her body. Within eight weeks she had died, at 52.

Liz spent seven weeks at the Lister Hospital before she was moved to a hospice. Somehow, the doctors and nurses never let her feel hopeless and they looked after me and the boys, too.

It’s not the first time my family have benefited from excellent NHS care. Jonathan has had obsessive compulsive disorder in the past and the NHS helped him recover.

When I read about the Daily Mail Helpforce campaign, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to give something back. People may think I’m mad when I’ve already got a lot on my plate, but Liz’s death has been life-changing for me — I’d always been driven by sales targets and making money, but all that has changed — and while the boys come first, I also just want to help people.

It’s a miracle NHS staff manage to do what they do. The complexity of their tasks and the logistics of a hospital are mind-blowing. It’s nice to play a small part in it.

Eight weeks ago, I started volunteering on a ward where Liz was treated. Now I go into the hospital every Tuesday between 8am and 11am to help with breakfast and then serve teas and coffees to patients and their relatives. I’ll also fetch newspapers from the shop or take patients to the loo.

I find most of the patients want to chat — maybe about the tennis or the cricket scores, or their family. I never run out of things to talk about, partly because of a lifetime working in sales. Most patients are in pain and just want to pass the time of day. Sometimes I just sit there and hold their hand or make sympathetic noises.

I come away from my shifts a bit drained — it’s an intense three hours — but volunteering is helping me rebuild my life.

I’m soon starting work for an undertaker as a funeral organiser, too, working closely with bereaved families. I know Liz would approve. 

I'm so moved by your stories 

By Matt Hancock, Secretary of state for health and social care

Like most Daily Mail readers I love the NHS – it brings so much to our country and it is always there for us.

That's why I'm delighted so many have risen to the call to support our NHS by giving back some of their time.

The history of volunteering in the NHS is as old as the health service itself. Millions of men and women have helped the NHS care for us.

Volunteers do the often less visible, but equally vital jobs, from holding the hands of patients during surgery, to driving patients, serving food and drinks, and the everyday small acts of kindness that make a great difference to the lives of patients and the smooth-running of our NHS.

Matt Hancock MP, Health Secretary visits Croydon University Hospital in London

We all have a personal bond with the NHS, whether the memory of the birth of a child, or the care given to a loved one in our moment of need. Volunteering strengthens those bonds because our relationship with the health service is more than just as a taxpayer or service user. After all, we should think not just of what the NHS can do for us, but what we can do for the NHS.

This brilliant campaign has proved that the British people believe in playing their part to make the health service the best it possibly can be. Every one of the Helpforce volunteers is a hero. We all have busy lives, juggling work with family and other responsibilities, and yet these volunteers have managed to find the time to give back to their local communities.

I've been incredibly moved by the stories of people going back to help the doctors and nurses at the hospital where their life, or the life of a loved one, was saved. By supporting staff and taking the time to sit with patients to talk and listen to them, the army of NHS volunteers provide an invaluable service and give back our hardworking doctors and nurses the gift of time – time to do what they do best: care for us.

I have made looking after our NHS staff better one of my top priorities because people make the NHS what it is.

This week junior doctors will start on new contracts that recognise and reward their vital contribution, we have secured record pay rises for the lowest-paid nurses and we now have record numbers of GPs in training.

The technology transformation currently under way in the NHS will also help save time for staff so they can focus on patients.

But the NHS is a team effort and we must do everything we can to encourage the noble act of volunteering and that spirit of compassion that embodies the best of our nation.

So I pay tribute to the Daily Mail and to Helpforce for what has been a truly inspirational campaign.

Not only has it encouraged people to give back to our NHS, but it has also highlighted the vital work of Helpforce and the crucial role volunteers play in our NHS.

Daily Mail readers answered the call in their tens of thousands, and by supporting our devoted NHS staff and offering comfort and kindness to patients when they need it most, made a real difference to people's lives.

The Mail campaign began on Dec 1… and had 30,000 volunteers by Dec 31