Nurses give a round of applause to fundraising teen

A ‘caring and compassionate’ teenager has raised £1000 for a hospital he volunteered at before the pandemic.

Humzah Razzaq, from Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire, was given a round of applause by nurses at Kilsyth Victoria Memorial Cottage Hospital as a thank you for the donation.

The 18-year-old, who is head boy at St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow, helped out at the hospital every Saturday morning before March 2020.

He raised the £1000 by recording a video message about his experience there and posting it to his GoFundMe page with the aim of getting some extra resources for patients.

The money will be used to purchase a new dementia doll and new outdoor furniture where patients can relax and enjoy the outdoors in the summer months.

Humzah, who hopes to study medicine and even become a doctor himself one day, said: “I really enjoyed my time at the hospital, talking with the patients and learning about their life stories, it gave me a real change in perspective.

“It will be good to get back once the restrictions have eased.

“Volunteering at the hospital has given me some great experience. I’ve learned a lot about how a hospital functions and how to take care of patients from the staff and I will always be very grateful to them.”

And the nurses at Kilsyth Victoria have hailed the youngster and say they look forward to welcoming him back.

The hospital’s senior charge nurse, Marie McGinty, said: “Humzah is a very caring, compassionate young man who demonstrates a maturity beyond his years

“I am overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness in taking time out from his busy study schedule to raise this money for our patients.”

She added: “While speaking with Humzah, he expressed a desire to become a doctor, a career choice which I believe he would be very well suited to.”

And Jackie Caskey, a staff nurse at the hospital for over 30 years, said: “Humzah was great with the patients. He used to play dominoes, listen to their stories and help out at mealtimes.

“We look forward to the day when we can welcome him back as we are all missing him.”

His proud parents, Mehmood and Saqib Razzaq, said: “Humzah enjoyed volunteering until lockdown started.

“With many patients being elderly and having dementia, he learned valuable skills on how to interact and communicate effectively with such patients and he formed friendships with many of them.

“When lockdown started he was unable to continue with his volunteering and decided to raise funds for the hospital in order to help purchase dementia dolls and any other equipment that would benefit the patients.

“As parents we are grateful to the hospital for giving Humzah this opportunity and we are very proud of his fundraising efforts.”