HAVE you ever thought about volunteering for St Clare Hospice?

The end-of-life care charity, which is based in Hastingwood, could not run all of its services without the people who give their skills and time to support its work.

St Clare’s volunteer development manager Stacey Towler said: “From hitting the streets with our collection buckets, to supporting someone with dementia, our volunteers are at the heart of everything we do here at the Hospice – and we are always on the lookout for new people to join our volunteer community.

“Volunteering for St Clare is not only rewarding, but it’s a lot of fun and flexible too. No matter your background, skills or experience, we’re confident we can find a volunteer role for you.”

As a St Clare volunteer, Harlow artist Sumithra Alkegamage helps run arts and crafts workshops in the Hospice’s Community Space. She was inspired to get involved by a neighbour after her husband died.

Sumithra said: “We lost my neighbour’s husband and she was the one who guided me here. Because of that, I thought how important it is to share your love and your talent with others. I’ve found that by sharing the things that you know, you can make others really happy.”

Meanwhile, student Callum Abouharb used his spare time to lend a hand at St Clare’s new dementia-friendly gardening club before heading off to university. 

He said getting to know people, listening to their stories and finding things in common was one of his favourite things about volunteering. “Being able to talk to people about their struggles is something that I’ve really got a lot out of,” he said. “It’s made me learn a lot about myself and about other people too.”

As a street collector with collection bucket in hand, Jane Steadman volunteers in one of the Hospice’s most public-facing roles.

She said she loves the flexibility of volunteering for St Clare, adding: “I volunteer because I want to put something back into the community. I like to set an example for my children and for my colleagues and friends and I think St Clare does a fantastic job.

“I can fit volunteering around my full-time work and I know that it makes a difference.”

Sumithra, Callum and Jane all feature in a new volunteer film (watch it here: stclarehospice.org.uk/volunteer-with-us) promoting the variety of roles available at St Clare Hospice and shining a spotlight on the valuable work that volunteers do. 

St Clare is currently looking to fill the following volunteer roles:

• Compassionate Neighbours to offer companionship to the lonely and frail
• Dementia Support volunteers to provide one-to-one support to people with advanced dementia in their own home
• GriefLine call handlers to offer emotional support and a listening ear to the bereaved
• Bucket collection volunteers to collect cash donations from the public
• Café Clare facilitators to welcome people to the Hospice’s weekly coffee mornings
• Men’s Shed supervisors to provide safe, practical hands-on sessions in the Men’s Shed
• Dementia-friendly gardeners to support people with dementia to potter, plant and grow
• Retail and e-commerce volunteers

You can find details about all of these volunteer opportunities and more by visiting stclarehospice.org.uk/volunteervacancies.

Alternatively, why not come along to St Clare’s Volunteer Recruitment Day at the Hospice on Saturday 19^th October to meet our volunteer development team and learn more about the roles available and the impact you could make as a St Clare volunteer.

Sessions are being held at 10.30am and 12pm. For more information, and to book onto a session, see stclarehospice.org.uk/event/volunteerrecruitment.