Wellbeing Volunteer

Herriot Hospice@The Lambert & Local Community, Thirsk, North Yorkshire

Wellbeing volunteers are vital within the Wellbeing Network, in supporting people living with terminal illness, their families, and carers.

The volunteering role is an essential part of our team, and we are now looking to expand the number of Wellbeing volunteers to reach more people. The roles are varied and bespoke, to support the needs of individuals providing reliable social and emotional support to people wherever they need it.

Volunteer roles are designed to support both the patient or client, and their carer to live as well as they can with a terminal diagnosis.

Wellbeing volunteer roles are delivered as below, however if you have a particular skill that you feel would support us, please get in touch.

• The Community Hub at The Lambert – our newest addition to our volunteer roles, providing support to patients, their families and anyone else that comes in, signposting to our services and offering a listening ear. This role will also work closely with the Food and Nutrition team in the hub.
• Sitting - simply staying with the patient, providing respite and empowering their carer to get out for a walk, appointments, or meeting friends.
• Befriending - simply being there, listening, supporting with isolation, accompanying the individual with their support networks in the community, going for a walk.
• Driving – to offer a short drive to medical appointments and to social groups, to pick up prescriptions for the inpatient unit.
• Groups – The Wellbeing Network has a range of social groups to offer the opportunity for people to come together to provide each other with social and emotional support.  Volunteers are to welcome individuals, offer refreshments and a listening ear, and support the wider team with collecting feedback about the support received.
• IPU – Volunteers to visit patients on the inpatient unit and offer some companionship, reading to patients, sitting with them to provide reassurance, or helping with activities.
• Armed Forces - The service also provides befriending support to veterans who have served in the Armed Forces.

 What we are looking for:

• Sensitive and empathetic
• Friendly and approachable
• Confident in ability to undertake a role that may be emotionally challenging at times.
• Happy working as part of a team, but also happy to work independently.
• Confident in following the boundaries of the role.
• Strict adherence to confidentiality.
• Confident in escalating any concerns.
• Clean driving licence

Getting Started:

·       Potential volunteers will be asked to complete a role-specific volunteer application form.

·       Selected candidates will be invited to an initial interview.

·       Volunteers will then be required to attend the training programme.

·       Additional ‘top-up’ training will be offered where appropriate.

·       All volunteers are required to complete safeguarding and information governance training via our online system ‘we learn’.

·       All volunteers are required to complete the North Yorkshire Hospice Care Mandatory Training prior to starting (and repeat this at defined intervals) alongside a departmental induction with your line manager.

·       An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) check will be undertaken before commencing volunteering.

Support:

North Yorkshire Hospice Care is a registered charity in England and Wales (518905) with a family of services operating as Herriot Hospice Homecare, Just ‘B’, Saint Michael’s Hospice, and Talking Spaces. North Yorkshire Hospice Care is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales (2121179).

We are committed to supporting volunteers effectively and appropriately – particularly in a role such as this which involves lone working and may be emotionally demanding. As such volunteers will receive the following:

 ·       Full training to carry out the role.

·       A member of the team allocated to them who is available for support and information as needed.

·       A thorough ‘Lone Working’ policy, which will be adhered to at all times to ensure the safety of all volunteers.

·       A supervision session providing an opportunity to reflect on the volunteering experience and receive feedback.

·       For more details, please see a copy of the volunteer description at the bottom of this page.

For more information on the role, please contact us on HR@saintmichaelshospice.org or on 01423 200145 and we can arrange for you to have an informal discussion with a member of the team.

PLEASE NOTE: Unfortunately, we are not currently able to consider applicants who do not have the right to work in the UK.

You will be joining an organisation that is driven, caring, and responsive and you will be playing an important role in enabling us to provide our highly valued services to the people of Harrogate, Hambleton, Richmondshire, and District.

At North Yorkshire Hospice Care we believe that children, young people and adults should never experience abuse of any kind. Every member of our organisation has a responsibility to promote the welfare of all who encounter our services. We aim to keep people safe and to operate our services in a way that protects them; to make reporting concerns as easy as possible and respond quickly; to listen to all worries and work in partnership with individuals and agencies. All our staff and volunteers receive annual training on both adults and children/young people’s safeguarding. This impacts our recruitment processes and we have adopted a number of safer recruitment practices, which our HR and People team can talk through with you.

We positively encourage applications from all areas of the community, regardless of gender, race, faith, disability, age, or sexual orientation and we encourage applications from users of mental health services. This is part of our commitment to equality and reflecting the diversity of our population. All volunteer appointments are subject to satisfactory pre-volunteering checks being obtained including but not limited to identity checks, DBS clearance at an appropriate level for the role, references and employment history. Costs of pre-volunteering checks will be met by the organisation.

North Yorkshire Hospice Care is a registered charity in England and Wales (518905) with a family of services operating as Herriot Hospice Homecare, Just ‘B’, Saint Michael’s Hospice, and Talking Spaces. North Yorkshire Hospice Care is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales (2121179).

Our Values                              

North Yorkshire Hospice Care is clear about who we are, what we do and why we do it. It is our vision; mission and values that underpin this understanding and all three of these areas continue to evolve as we develop in response to the changing world around us.

We have re-examined our values with our stakeholders seeking to define a sense of who we are today. The result? A set of 10 values/behaviours that crystallize this thinking and act as a yardstick for our thinking and actions.

This shared set of values helps guide our decisions, actions and behaviours and is at the core of our collective aspiration to live in a community where everyone gets the care they need to live their last years, months and days with respect and dignity.

NB: This list is not exclusive or exhaustive but captures those values/behaviours currently at the top of our agenda.

• We put the people who use our services at the heart of everything we do.
• We are caring and compassionate.
• We are personal and supportive in our approach.
• We engage positively.
• We are responsive.
• We are driven to do better.
• We are fair.
• We are professional.
• We work collaboratively.
• We are accountable.