National Volunteer Week – Maureen & Derek Smith – Profile

Volunteering at EHAAT – Maureen and Derek Smith

“We get involved in many ways to support the charity and enjoy doing this together as a couple. From being on the Merchandise Committee using data to discuss which items to drop and what items to potentially add to the charity’s range, to giving educational talks ‘out and about’ including at golf clubs, pre-school nurseries and company headquarters, to manning stalls at the charity’s big events like the biannual motorcycle run, we use our skills in so many ways.

We feel strongly about helping EHAAT in any we can as Maureen needed their critical care service herself. Maureen is an ex patient who survived mainly due to being treated by an EHAAT pre-hospital critical care doctor during the 10 minute helicopter flight to hospital. This always lends a personal touch to our talks and cheques presentations, especially the first time I gave a talk, this was for the Shalford Annual Parish Assembly; I got quite emotional and struggled to finish, a few of the attendees said to me afterwards that my emotion added to it as it showed how much EHAAT meant to us.

Whether we are prepping months in advance for tombola prizes or liaising with the EHAAT pilots for a flyover (if not operational), the experience changes every time and keeps us engaged volunteers!”