Hospitals
From the collection of
Transport
- Ilkley
- 1975-09-28
Hospitals (A Matter for Concern)
Reading for the blind, dancercise for the chair-bound and hostesses for injured patients in A&E. Hospital volunteers do more than you might think.
St. James' Hospital in Leeds is crying out for volunteers to do everything from running the WRVS tea bar, to feeding patients who can't feed themselves. Teenagers are encouraged to volunteer as visitors in nursing homes, where they can help older people to therapeutically reminisce about their childhoods or their working lives in factories, or just discuss the royal family.
A Matter for Concern was a Yorkshire Television current affairs program, hosted by Austin Mitchell and Ann Syrett. Each week they appealed for volunteers in a specific area of charitable work, and interviewed charity bosses about the work volunteers would be expected to undertake.
Austin Mitchell was an academic turned television presenter who was elected as MP for Grimsby shortly after this programme aired. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1977-2015. He briefly changed his name to Austin Haddock to raise awareness of a fishing-related issue in his constituency.
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A Matter for Concern
The heart-warming, hopeful power of community. An unsentimental rallying cry for charity volunteers.
Like a reverse Dragon's Den for local good causes, A Matter for Concern brought charity bosses into the television studio to pitch directly to viewers. Unlike Dragon's Den, however, the show wasn't appealing for money, but people. Presenters Austin Mitchell and Ann Syrett made direct appeals for volunteers in specific charitable roles across the region, then showed examples of existing volunteers at work to help their viewers visualise precisely what was needed.
At the end of each edition Ann Syrett updated viewers on how many volunteers had responded so far to their previous appeals and sometimes included a photograph of new volunteers at work. The programme's restrained, unsensational and unsentimental tone made it easy viewing, despite the sometimes distressing subject matter.
10 videos in this collection
1
Transport
2
Volunteer Visitors
3
Youth Action
4
Children in Care
5
Volunteer Centres
6
Hospitals
7
Age Action
8
Help Themselves
9
Are Volunteers Used Effectively?
10