The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust's Volunteer Service has marked 70 years of operation, the longest continuous volunteering programme across Northern Ireland's health trusts. A special afternoon tea at the Ulster Hospital celebrated the milestone and honoured the Ards Hospital Ladies Committee, which has raised funds and supported patients for seven decades.

Veteran volunteer Angela Martin, 82, has been a committee member for 46 years. She explained that volunteering runs in her family and that the committee has purchased equipment such as early cancer detection machines, wheelchairs and pulse oximeters for Ards Hospital. She has held the roles of chair and secretary over the years.

The committee's treasurer, Concepta Meredith, reported that the group raised £60,000 in the past ten years through coffee mornings. The money funded medical devices including ECG and blood pressure machines, which she said help keep people out of hospital.

Trust Chairman Jonathan Patton called volunteers the lifeblood of the hospital and said recruiting the next generation is vital. Volunteer Services Manager Sonya Duffy added that the trust currently has 370 volunteers, spanning ages 16 to 25 and older, who bring enthusiasm and life experience respectively.

Those interested in volunteering can contact the trust by emailing volunteer@setrust.hscni.net or calling (028) 9056 4817.