9 November 2015 Volunteer Stories Jan Rathband Gracie Power Volunteer Stories- Making a Difference

. Dates for your Diary Christmas lights The grand BCH Christmas lights switch on will be on Friday 27th November. Our Communications team would love your help from 4pm- 7pm with a variety of roles including meet & greet, Santa's grotto, helping the children’s choir, the list goes on. If you would like to help out please contact Letters to Santa From the 30 th November to the 11 th December we will be running Letters to Santa. We are looking for volunteers to help children write and post their letters to Santa throughout the hospital and distribute their replies, it’s great fun! If you would like to help please Festive Volunteer Celebration We are excited to announce our annual tea party will be on Tuesday 8 th December between 2-4pm at The Bond in Digbeth and it will have a Christmas twist. This is a special time when we can thank you for all your hard work and commitment to our hospital. Invites will be posted on 12 th November so look out for yours! ‘Twit Twoo - don't get the flu’ It’s that time of year again when we ask all staff and volunteers to get a flu jab and join the chain reaction to protect the hospital against the dreaded flu bug. Our Jab-a-thon launched on 5 th October and this year we are asking you to 'Twit Twoo - don't get the flu' in honour of our Big Hoot owls. We know that by working together we can beat the bug. Every person who has the jab will be given a paper chain link to personalise and once we reach our target of 90% the chain will be assembled to wrap around the hospital and protect us from the bug - lock it up, lock it out! Everyone has a part to play in our chain reaction. To find out more and arrange your flu jab: Contac t the team – extension 8019 or bleep any time Drop into the Hospital Operations Centre (on the ground floor next to the stairs down to the restaurant) Look out for the flu team in the conservatory or at a location near you. If you have a Twitter account then you can follow A Warm Welcome To Our New Starters Sinead Naylor- Ward 1 Jasbinder Jassi- Ward 10 Jamie Brockett- NSW/ Scouts & guides Nafeesa Mehmood- Ward 12 They think it’s owl over! During the summer, Birmingham hosted the city’s biggest public art event with 85 owl sculptures on display in streets, parks and open spaces. Our volunteers got involved and here are some of their photos. The owls were auctioned on 15 th October and raised over £508,035. A huge thank you to you all for your involvement. An exciting refurbishment of our Play Centre is underway. During the works their will be no access to the Play Centre or the playground although play staff will continue their weekly programme of activities in the Den on wards and in play rooms across the hospital. There’ll also be movie afternoons taking place in the Lecture Theatre on specified weekends. Due for completion in February 2016, the new ‐ look Play Centre will boast feature flooring and seating and a colour scheme to reflect the new play service logo in hospital colours. There will be a fully fitted sensory room, along with all the fun and interactive games we’ve come to know and love from the play service, such as games consoles and arts and crafts. All contact details for play staff remain unchanged. New Look for Play Centre