Since 2009, You Make a Difference has celebrated the contribution to excellent patient care by CUH members of staff.
More than a thousand nominations are received every year from the public, colleagues and the community, and we are proud to share the stories of this month’s winners:
- Ruth Horrell – Lead midwife for fetal surveillance
- Joe Harrison – CUH volunteer
Winner – Ruth Horrell
What does it mean to be a midwife in 2026, was the question Ruth Horrell explored to mark this year’s International Day of the Midwife at the Rosie Hospital. She utilised her skills as a photographer to take candid pictures of her colleagues to demonstrate the breadth of their work and used their answers to write a poem about the reality of being a midwife in 2026.
Ruth combined the pictures and the poem to create a video that was shared with Rosie colleagues on the International Day of the Midwife in May. The response was incredibly positive with staff describing her work as moving and powerful and one said, “this is truly beautiful and heartfelt, capturing the essence of the Rosie.”
Ruth’s work will now reach a new audience, with ten pictures being chosen for a 12-month exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.
She was nominated for a You Make a Difference award in July for her dedication in completing this project. The nomination said Ruth worked “incredibly hard” outside of her day job to capture the pictures and the “high quality of her work” received “excellent feedback”.
Kimberley Skinner, lead midwife for quality and patient experience, said: “Ruth is a passionate advocate for midwives across the maternity service, recognising the national and local operational challenges staff face when striving to achieve safe, excellent, and compassionate care.”
She added: “The impact this piece of work has had on staff morale is unsurpassed. More than 100 members of staff have reached out on social media and via email stating pride, admiration and thanks to Ruth for portraying midwifery care so powerfully.”
Read more about this project on Ruth’s photography website (opens in a new tab).
Winner – Joe Harrison
Joe has been a volunteer at CUH for 15 years, starting his role selling newspapers on the wards and is now a guide helping patients to find their way around the hospital. He also brings his dog Alfie, who visits CUH once a week as a Pets as Therapy (PAT) animal, spending time with people on wards and in clinics, bringing joy and comfort to those who need it.
Earlier this year, a critical patient on the paediatric intensive care unit expressed his wishes to be a PAT dog owner one day and his love of sausage dogs. The patient and his parents were told about Joe and Alfie and asked if they could visit the family on the unit.
It wasn’t Joe’s regular volunteering day, but he happened to be at the hospital. It was a hot day, so he hadn’t brought Alfie with him, but when he heard about the family’s request, he drove back to his home in Suffolk, collected Alfie and returned as quickly as he could. Alfie spent some time with the family on unit, which was extremely moving to witness.
Joe was nominated for a You Make a Difference award for his actions that day and the nomination said, “this really went above and beyond Joe’s regular volunteering activities and made such an incredible difference to the child and their family at the most difficult time imaginable.”
Jack Watson, volunteer co-ordinator, added they have received many thank you cards over the years for Joe and Alfie. “It shows how much they are both appreciated and the difference they make to our hospital,” Joe added.
Congratulations to both our winners this month!