Health board worker receives BEM for work tackling loneliness and isolation

Kathryn Thomas was expecting nothing more than junk mail when she opened a letter before Christmas – instead, she discovered she had been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the King’s New Year’s Honours list.

The 46-year-old from Oakdale was recognised for her services to volunteer management and community support, following 25 years of work with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

Over the last decade, The senior project manager has worked on the Ffrind I Mi scheme, which aims to tackle loneliness and isolation, as well as providing dementia support and more.

The scheme recruits volunteers to support those who are feeling lonely or isolated.

“I saw a letter with His Majesty’s Service on top and I thought ‘what junk mail is this?,” Kathryn told Caerphilly Observer: “So when I opened it, it was a a real surprise. 

“I was very shocked. I see it very much as a team effort.

“Without the management support, the team that I’ve got around me, and the volunteers, it wouldn’t be possible.

“It is very much a team, and we’re very lucky that we’ve got so many volunteers who give so much. It’s all a joint effort.

“Although I got this award for my work, I can’t thank my family and friends enough too for all their support.”

Explaining the project, Kathryn said: “We support people in hospital and out in the community. It might be to take them out and about. It might be just a home visit. There could be someone who’s housebound, just giving them a bit of time.

“We’ve also had volunteers who reached out that had poor mobility themselves but wanted to look at ways that they could still give back. So we do telephone befriending as well as part of that.”

She continued: “For me, it’s about looking at that person, and looking at that volunteer. If they want to give something, well what is it that we can do?

“We’ve got lots of people with a range of disabilities and health conditions that we support in an environment that suits them. 

“We’ve got over 300 active volunteers and another 100 in recruitment, so we’re very very fortunate at this moment in time with the amount of support that’s coming our way.”

‘Very blessed’

Speaking to Caerphilly Observer, an emotional Kathryn praised the scheme’s team of volunteers and said: “Every day our volunteers are out there. Some volunteers volunteer every week, perhaps sometimes twice a week.

“We’ve got other volunteers that do evenings and weekends because it falls within their working or family life, and then we’ve got other volunteers that just do once a month.

“It is about having that flexibility, because we know we get more from the volunteers that way. So, it’s lovely – I’m very lucky and very blessed to be in this role because we see the impact that it has on both the patients and the volunteers.”

In a statement, ABUHB said “we couldn’t be more proud” of Kathryn.