AN ARMY of volunteers are celebrating a successful first year of helping people find their way around Southmead Hospital’s new £430 million building.

The hospital’s Move Makers were recruited by the NHS trust behind the hospital to help greet and guide hospital visitors when the hospital first opened a year ago.

The friendly team, in their brightly-coloured T-shirts, started on May 12 as the first patients from the old Southmead Hospital buildings were moved into the Brunel.

Since the first Move Makers started their shift a year ago they have notched up a total of 23,541 volunteer hours between them - an average of 64.5 hours a day, every day.

They were originally recruited for just three weeks but proved so popular that they were asked to stay on indefinitely.

A celebration event was held in The Sanctuary space inside the Brunel building on Tuesday, May 12 to mark the commitment the volunteers have made to the North Bristol NHS Trust over the last year and thank them for their hard work in supporting the move and the running of the hospital.

The Move Makers were inspired by the Games Makers who took to the streets of the capital for the London 2012 Olympics. They were recruited to be the friendly face of the new hospital, meeting and greeting patients and visitors and guiding them around the Brunel building.

There are currently127 Move Makers, ranging in age from 30s to 80s, who cover shifts seven days a week to help people when they arrive at the hospital.

They were honoured as part of a national Health Business Award the Trust won last year and were also hailed as an “area of outstanding innovation” by the Care Quality Commission, following their inspection of the Trust in November.

Move Maker manager, Jill Randall, said: “Our Move Makers are amazing people who do all that they can to make patients more relaxed throughout the patient journey – from the moment they step inside the Brunel until they reach their destination.

“People tell us that the Move Makers make a difference to their experience and that gives us a great sense of satisfaction.

“I want to say a heartfelt thank-you to every one of the Move Makers. We really do appreciate the time they give up to help out.”

North Bristol NHS Trust Director of Facilities, Simon Wood, said: “The Brunel building is an iconic hospital and I think the service the Move Makers provide is becoming equally iconic - I don’t think there has been anything like them in another hospital.

“It seems there is no job too big or too small for our Move Makers and they truly work as a team.

“I want to say a tremendous thank-you to every one of the Move Makers for their efforts.”

Due to the success of the Move Makers in the Brunel building more are now being recruited for Southmead's maternity unit and Cossham Hospital.

For more information about becoming a Move Maker contact Jill Randall at move.makers@nbt.nhs.uk or on 07568 130176.