A volunteer hospital worker who volunteered her services during the pandemic has had her efforts recognized after winning an NHS award.

Modest Chiara Galimberti told the Express she got more feedback from the experience than she gave away after signing up as a volunteer at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, saying: ” It also helped me through the pandemic because everyone at RAH is so nice and I was going there, volunteering, life went on.”

Chiara, who has lived in Paisley since 2019, responded to the call for volunteers to strengthen the NHS when coronavirus hit after being inspired by the impact of the outbreak in her home country.

Italy was hit hard by the coronavirus at the start of the pandemic.

And she was recognized this week at the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Excellence Awards.

The 45-year-old won the title in the Volunteering category, designed to recognize those who have gone the extra mile by ‘contributing tirelessly and providing exceptional help and support for the benefit of others’.

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NHS GGC Pandemic Response volunteer Chiara has moved to the UK from her home near Turin in northern Italy.

She arrived in England in 2014, living in London and the Isle of Wight before heading north to Glasgow and eventually settling in Paisley and the town quickly won her heart.

She says: “I lived in London but it was a big city and I eventually came to Glasgow and then moved to Paisley. Paisley is close to my heart because it’s a big city, it’s big but not as big as the others and the people are beautiful.

“At the start of the pandemic, they were looking for volunteers. My mother is a retired nurse and I was watching the news and I knew something was happening in China. No one had realized it was already so widespread and then my mother told me that back home they were starting to close schools and public places.Italy was pretty bad.

So when the call came to help the NHS in Scotland, Chiara, who was already volunteering with her church, decided to lend a hand.

She started helping the RAH in August 2020 and has continued. She said: “My Catholic faith was a huge driver in my decision to join the voluntary services at the start of the pandemic. I felt and feel that I should do something to help my community.

“I wanted to do something to help and I volunteered at the RAH. At first I was helping with documents in the office, then we started a project to make coffee and tea for the staff because the cafeteria was closed, then I moved on to theaters.”

She also helped lift the spirits of patients, carrying personal items and supplies to wards when visitors were banned due to covid regulations.

NHS bosses say Chiara has been the backbone of the RAH pandemic support volunteer team, helping with all the tasks necessary to ‘support patients and staff through the most difficult times’, including in “PPE distribution and donation deliveries, but the role in which she is best known is at the RAH Staff R&R Hub”.

Director of Volunteers Harry Balch praised her efforts saying, “Chiara is a much loved and valued member of the team; she has boundless compassion and a sunny, non-judgmental nature that is so evident in her engagement with patients and staff; his kindness and hospitality were a huge support for all of us during the most difficult days of the pandemic.

“She was our rock at RAH and really got us through the toughest times just by being her. We can’t thank Chiara enough for the way she supported us.”

And her work received the ultimate accolade when she was honored at the awards – held online for the first time – when staff and volunteers were brought together for board bosses to recognize their commitment and dedication. during the unprecedented pandemic and through the ongoing consequences.

The ‘Celebrating Success’ awards were the first in two years due to the pandemic, hosted by National Clinical Director Jason Leitch and attended by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Human Services Humza Yousaf.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Chairman John Brown added his thanks, saying: “The last time we held a ‘Celebrating Success’ event was in November 2019. We hadn’t even heard talk about Covid-19.

“The world has changed beyond recognition since then and our staff have been at the forefront of that change and challenge. I couldn’t be more proud of each one of them.”

He added: “The awards are meant to recognize the efforts of a few ‘shining stars’; teams and individuals who went the extra mile in the most difficult of circumstances. People were scared, people were tired, they were hot. to wear PPE and they are worried about their families as well as their patients.

“But they came, did their best and did it again, day after day. Our annual celebratory event has never had more meaning and even though we weren’t together in person, it was by far the more special.”

Seven main awards were presented in total – reflecting the organization’s key goals – the Best Care, Best Health, Best Value, Best Workplace, Nursing and Volunteering categories and the Global Citizenship award.

But delighted that Chiara was stunned to win, she said: “I’m totally giddy and giddy, it’s so emotional. I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the lovely people at RAH and Paisley.”

For full details of all winners, please visit: www.nhsggc.scot/celebratingsuccess

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