Mike Hardy, a retiree and rock music enthusiast from Richmond, answered an appeal by our Trust for a unique volunteer. We were looking for a guitarist to play alongside one of our patients, who plays the drums.
Mike has been supporting the Trust for nearly a year now and volunteers within the local community in Middlesbrough. He said: “My volunteer role is very unique; I play guitar with a patient who plays the drums. We rehearse, and have done a few open mics, which is going really well.
“I’ve been volunteering since I retired seven years ago. It’s ideal for me to combine my love of music and being able to contribute and make a difference.
“I also volunteer in the NHS check and chat role and have regular catch ups with patients to chat about music and sport.
“When I first saw the Trust’s appeal for a musician volunteer, I thought, ‘that’s me!’.”
Mike says he was around 18 years old when he started playing the guitar. He took playing seriously about 12 years ago and started gigging with a band 10 years ago.
“Basically, I’m a fan of rock music. I’ve loved it since I first heard Bohemian Rhapsody. The bit when the guitar comes in got me hooked,” he continued.
“Although I’m a big 70s rock fan, my favourite song to play with my band is Mr Brightside. You can’t beat seeing the audience’s response when you play the first few notes. I love seeing people enjoying themselves.”
Mike has developed a great relationship with the person he supports in his volunteering role:
“His favourite band is Bon Jovi,” he said, “So we play a lot of that! I hope I give him the opportunity to have a fun couple of hours and something to focus on.”
“We also started guitar lessons for him last week which he said he would like more of.”
Volunteer roles at our Trust also include magicians, football support, befriending and support volunteers, transporting patients, supporting and facilitating activities, administration and IT support, collecting patient feedback, transporting equipment to sites across the Trust, meet and greet, gardeners, and chaplaincy.
We currently have over 270 volunteers who generously give their time, energy and passion to support our services and teams and make a positive difference.
Find out more about volunteering with us
