The following is an article published in the March 2017 issue of the Royal Cornwall Hospital’s “One + All” magazine.
Humanist Pastoral Volunteer
Volunteering at RCHT attracts people of all ages, coming from all sorts of backgrounds. Most have inspiring stories to tell about why they have chosen to give their time to support patients, staff and visitors at our hospitals. In this edition of “One + All” we take a look at some of these stories.
Why help? – Why not? says pastoral volunteer Peter
Peter Edmead is a “Humanist Pastoral Volunteer” who divides his time between West Cornwall Hospital and the Royal Cornwall Hospital site at Treliske. While his role with the voluntary services has had a relatively recent beginning, his interest in providing help and support to those in need has been a long held concern.
“I retired in 2013” explains Peter ‘Prior to that, I’d spent over twenty years working as a full time state teacher. Pastoral support is a major requirement in the teaching profession, especially in my roles of teacher, form tutor, special needs co-ordinator, and then Head of Science. It was this experience, as well as my interest in Humanism, that provided me with the necessary background for my role as a Humanist volunteer.”