Emma Easton is NHS England’s Deputy Director of Voluntary Partnerships, supporting partnership working with the voluntary sector and sharing and scaling volunteering within the NHS.

During the pandemic, Emma helped develop the NHS Volunteer Responders programme which recruited over 400,000 volunteers to provide support to vulnerable people and the NHS and social care, and subsequently support for the Covid vaccination programme. Her team work closely with voluntary sector partners such as the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance and others and lead on the development of volunteering and partnerships with the voluntary sector, including commissioning the national ambulance auxiliary programme.

Emma also championed the development of the NHS Cadets initiative, a partnership with St John Ambulance to provide volunteering opportunities and skills development to young people aged 14-18.

Prior to joining NHS England in 2014, Emma worked for Regional Voices, a network of regional VCSE organisations, supporting the VCSE sector to be more involved in health and care policy development.