Michele Birtel is a Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology and Programme Leader for PhD Psychology.
"I have been a COVID-19 volunteer at St Bartholomew's Hospital of the Barts Health NHS Trust since April 2020. My role involves supporting the hospital in various tasks such as greeting incoming patients to screen for COVID-19 symptoms and assist with admin support. In the future I may also be asked to make coffee and tea for patients and staff, help with taking medication to wards or make phone calls.
I decided to look for volunteering options because I felt a little useless during this pandemic and wanted to do something to help. Additionally, as I live and work alone at home, I felt quite isolated so I wanted to get out of the house and interact with people, and do something meaningful.
In my role as a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, I have also started collaborating with international research teams to do research on COVID-19, such as prejudice and discrimination towards minority groups, predictors of wellbeing, and support for measures to reduce the transmission of coronavirus.
Volunteering at Barts is an extremely rewarding experience. I am supporting NHS staff and get to interact with people I would not normally interact with in my job. It's easy to live in your own bubble and just worry about the next haircut or when the pubs reopen, not thinking about the bigger picture.
It's so important that we support each other and look after each other during these times, treat each other with more kindness and appreciation, not only now but also hopefully take this forward into the future."
The university is incredibly proud of all its staff and students that have either returned or joined the NHS to volunteer during the pandemic.
You can read all about the many different ways members of the university community have contributed to national effort during this pandemic here.
