Job overview

A new volunteer opportunity within our mental health liaison service.

Patients on the general (physical health) wards at Tameside hospital sometime need support for their mental health. This role supports the mental health liaison service who visit patients on general wards. 

You will be supporting patients, their family/friends and staff as part of a multidisciplinary team by providing an additional pair of hands to assist with non-clinical activities.

Informal interview

The informal interviews for this role will take place on Thursday 26th March 2026 at our Trust Headquarters in Ashton-Under-Lyne (OL6 7SR)

Please note we are unable to hold meetings over Teams or Zoom or phone. 

Main duties of the job

The role involves spending time with patients (identified by the mental health liaison team) to provide comfort and reassurance on a general ward and involves:

• Chatting with patients
• Undertaking suitable activities with patients that could include reading to them, playing card games, doing a jigsaw or similar
• Providing feedback to the liaison team about your interaction
• Supporting communication with family members
• Encouraging feedback (Friends and Family Test) from patients, their family/friends about their experience of the mental health liaison service

• Please note: To meet our Trust’s safeguarding obligations applicants for this volunteer role must be aged 18 or over.

We offer opportunities in other services for people aged 16 and 17, please contact the volunteer service to discuss these roles.

Working for our organisation

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.

Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We're really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we are a great place to work.

We want our volunteers to reflect the diversity of the people we support, and we encourage and welcome applications from people across all our communities.

Volunteer Recruitment

Applying to become a volunteer may seem a little daunting for some people however, the volunteer service is here to guide and support you through the process.

Please be aware that due to the robust process, recruitment can sometimes take a few weeks.

Throughout the process you will have informal meetings with us and the service where you will be volunteering. In addition to this we will require you to:

• Complete an identity (ID) check
• Complete a Disclosure and Barring Service* (DBS) check,
• Complete an Occupational health assessment
• Give details for two references
• Complete relevant training.

*Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check

DBS checks for volunteers are free and the level of check is dependent on the role you are undertaking.

We encourage applicants to join the DBS Update Service which is also free for volunteers. You can find information on the DBS Update Service here: www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

We look forward to you joining us and making a difference.