Below you’ll find some information on the various voluntary roles available at East Cheshire Hospice. If you’d like to find out more or apply, please contact our Volunteer Team, on 01625 610364 or email volunteers@echospice.org.uk
Please note that many roles have a maximum number of volunteer places and may be fully subscribed. In these cases, we can either see if there is an alternative role which you may enjoy or keep your details (with your permission) for when another place on the team becomes available.
We now have six charity shops in our local community, all of which are mainly run by volunteers.
If you enjoy dealing with members of the public and love being part of a team, you’ll love volunteering at one of our shops!
It is a role which based around receiving and sorting donations, working on the shop floor, till work and dealing with customer enquiries.
The Hospice is a caring organisation, and you’ll be joining a team of volunteers who often deal with people at a difficult time in their lives. We take donations with great sensitivity and treat our customers with warmth, gratitude and support, as well as providing a professional and efficient retail service and being an important part of funding the Hospice.
Full training and support will be given by our friendly staff and volunteers.
We would ask anyone interested in volunteering in any of our shops to pop in and have a chat with the manager to see what shifts might be available. We would ask you to register on our volunteer database and we would ask for a couple of references from people who know you well. There is also some important retail guidance to go through, either online or in the shop.
Our fantastic team of van drivers and assistants collect and deliver furniture from donors’ houses to our shops and back to customers’ homes.Â
Our retail team is a great place to volunteer for three reasons:
To drive our van, you need to be over 25 and have a full driving licence. We need to check this annually and we do this by asking you complete a driver’s declaration, which includes steps to allow us to check the status of your driving licence online. There is also some online volunteer training we would ask you to take, and some face to face inanimate objects training to make sure any moving and handling is carried out safely.
Anyone interested in this role would be asked to have a chat with our furniture coordinator in the first instance to find out if there are suitable opportunities and then we would ask you to sign up to our volunteer database. We would also ask for a couple of references from people who know you well.
There are many and varied roles within the main Hospice itself ranging from helping to tend our beautiful grounds to welcoming people through the doors as one of our amazing receptionists to helping support our inpatients with refreshments and company.
All volunteer roles which take place in the Hospice grounds require a DBS check, either standard or enhanced depending on the role. Because we are a highly regulated organisation, everyone also must undergo a certain amount of mandatory training in matters such as Information Governance, Safeguarding, Equality Diversity and Inclusion. The level of training will be determined by the role. Anyone who would have one to one contact with any of our patients would also be required to undergo annual face to face safeguarding training.
All potential volunteers would be asked to register on our volunteer database, and we would ask for references from two people who know you well.
Here is a selection of the roles within the Hospice:
The gardening team work on a Wednesday morning at the hospice, and are a very friendly group of volunteers that keep our gardens looking smart and colourful in the growing months from March to October. They cut the grass, tend the flower beds, and prune the shrubs … a wide variety of gardening tasks to suit all skill levels. The main requirement is that you are a team player, and that you enjoy a tea/coffee and cake when you come and help out.
Our floral displays around the Hospice make a massive difference to our patients and their visitors. Our arrangers repurpose donated flowers which are part of creating the welcoming environment that makes our hospice so special.
Our flower arrangers work in pairs, on Monday, Wednesday or Friday afternoons. The shift is 2-3 hours, and we generally ask people to sign up for one shift a fortnight (although ad hoc or monthly shifts may also be an option). You don’t need any prior experience – just an interest in flowers. Please note that we have arrangements in the ward and the bedrooms and so you would need to be comfortable around people and their families who are at a very difficult time of life.
Reception is where Hospice care starts – you’ll welcome a variety of visitors to the Hospice – family and friends of patients, fundraisers, donors and clinical professionals. Not everyone feels comfortable entering a Hospice, so as the first person they see, you set the tone for the care they will receive.
In addition to this, you’ll redirect any phone calls that come in. You will also use our till as we have a small shop and process meal transactions. Full training will be given including shadow shifts with a current Receptionist.
It can be a complex and busy role, so you’ll need to be comfortable with a little pressure when it’s busy, whilst keeping calm and reassuring for our visitors. We’ll offer you as much support as you need to do the job confidently and with care.
Weekday shifts are four hours long, 9am -1pm, or 1pm – 5pm Monday – Friday, and our rota operates on a 4 weekly cycle with most people taking one or two shifts per cycle.
Weekday evening shifts are 5-7pm.
Weekend shifts are three hours long,10am-1pm, 1-4pm and 4-7pm.
Our ward volunteers do a variety of tasks in our inpatient ward. Exact tasks can vary but are typically: taking the tea and coffee trolley to our patients, stocking up on ward supplies (gloves, aprons, PPE, etc), reuniting laundry with the right patient, looking after families, and of course spending time with our patients when they fancy a chat. Therefore, you would need to be comfortable around people and their families who are at a very difficult time of life.
 There is no personal care in this role, and no moving and handling of our patients.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve had experience in this area or not, we’re looking for caring, boundaried and resilient people who can slot easily into a team.
The daytime shift starts at around 10am, and is usually finished by 2pm-ish, and evening shifts 5pm-7pm.
Our patients on the ward and their families often benefit from the presence of a four-legged friend. Our Pets as Therapy volunteers bring their pets in (usually dogs) to the ward on an ad hoc basis. Volunteers bringing their pets into the Hospice must have an up-to-date registration with the Pets as Therapy Organisation as well as understanding and adhering to our Animals in Clinical Areas policy. Please note that a Pets as Therapy Volunteer visiting the ward would need to be comfortable around people and their families who are at a very difficult time of life.
We also welcome Pets as Therapy Volunteers into the Sunflower Living Well Centre to enhance our daycare sessions. This is on a rota basis.
Our Sunflower Living Well Centre is here to help anyone whose life has been affected by the diagnosis of a life-limiting illness. We have various opportunities for volunteers to help support and enrich the lives of the people visiting the centre.
All volunteer roles which take place in the Sunflower Living Well Centre require a DBS check, either standard or enhanced depending on the role. Because we are a highly regulated organisation, everyone also must undergo a certain amount of mandatory training in matters such as Information Governance, Safeguarding, Equality Diversity and Inclusion. The level of training will be determined by the role. Anyone who would have one to one contact with any of our patients would also be required to undergo annual face to face safeguarding training.
All potential volunteers would be asked to register on our volunteer database, and we would ask for references from two people who know you well.
Our day care volunteers look after the people who come in for our day care sessions. We run a number of different programmes including general daycare sessions, dementia patient and carer sessions, FAB (fatigue, anxiety, breathing) sessions, Live Well courses and many more.
Our day care volunteers are kind and empathetic and welcome patients, make teas and coffees, have a chat, help out with activities and serve lunches.
Our day care patients have to travel to the Hospice somehow, and where they have no close family or friends who can give them a lift, our team of day care drivers are an absolute lifeline.
Our drivers collect patients who are coming to attend a daycare session (10am – 3pm), take them to our Sunflower Centre around 10am, and then return to pick them up around 3pm when their session has finished. The service runs on Mondays, Tuesday and Thursdays. We work on a rota system and so would ask people to sign up to once a week
 Our drivers receive in-person safely moving around training, and safeguarding. We need you to be fit and well, but you won’t have a any moving and handling responsibilities – it’s focussed more on guiding a patient in and out of the car rather than lifting, as our patients are quite mobile. We would also ask to check your driving licence and make sure you check that your insurance company covers volunteering.
This group of volunteers is a mixed bunch, helping out with and also running a variety of activities for the community to attend withing the Sunflower Centre building.
These could be from flower arranging and festive crafts to community music, tech help, and creative writing—there’s something for everyone.
Our team of complementary therapy volunteers enhance our Wellbeing and Dementia group sessions in the Sunflower Living Well Centre. The team consists of therapists qualified in at least two of the following therapies:
 Therapists are required to complete relevant eLearning and attend face to face safeguarding training.
Our dementia wellbeing volunteers spend a few hours per week in one of our community hubs to assist our dementia team with activities for the people experiencing dementia and their family.
We run these weekly sessions in the Hospice itself, and then at community hubs in Congleton, Poynton and Knutsford. This is a lovely opportunity to make someone with dementia feel heard and spend some enjoyable time with you, providing them with reassurance and fun whilst being supported with dementia specialists.
Activities are led by our specialist dementia healthcare assistants, and a nurse is always available should they be needed. Full training in dementia and communicating with people experiencing dementia is given, regular team meetings provide a great opportunity to get together with the other dementia volunteers and exchange ideas and experiences and there’s always other people in the room if you’re not sure of anything.
This is a very rewarding role for caring people to spend time with a person with early-stage dementia in our communities. The service is aimed at giving the person’s main carer a break, but it also makes a big difference to the person with dementia by doing meaningful and enjoyable activities, mostly out of the home. Our service is only for those with no hands-on care needs, so it really is just companionship – a chat, going out for a walk to a cafe or garden centre – whatever you both want to do, and will both enjoy!
We ask our companions to commit to a 12-week relationship, where possible (holidays and time away are OK of course!) so that the person with dementia can get as much out of the relationship as possible
We give full dementia training to do this role to make sure you’re well prepared. We also offer ongoing support any time you need it, and regular supportive team meetings, and it’s a great way to support people in our communities who really need help.
You will need to have access to your own car with volunteering allowed on your insurance and have availability to do the visits between Monday to Friday 9-5. This role also requires face to face safeguarding training and moving around safely training which we will arrange.
Last but very much not least is befriending. The heart of the service is befriending and building a meaningful, lasting relationship. Sometimes that looks like sharing a cup of tea and a chat; sometimes it’s a walk, a visit at home, or simply being a steady presence. Our befrienders get to know someone who genuinely needs them, often during the last year of their life. Befriending volunteering can make a real difference to the person and their loved ones.
 All our befrienders are volunteers who are compassionate, good listeners from all walks of life and are dedicated to making a difference. While they offer companionship, they are not clinical professionals and will not help with moving, medication, or personal care.
Our befrienders will need to commit to visit or support someone once a week or once a fortnight, usually for around a year (though some people live longer, and some much less). They are carefully matched with someone who lives within a reasonable distance and whose personality, interests, and needs align with what the volunteer feels comfortable offering.
Befrienders will need to have access to their own car with volunteering allowed on their insurance. This role also requires face to face safeguarding training and moving around safely training which we will arrange. The role can be emotionally demanding so befriender will need to be resilient, but we offer ongoing support any time it is needed and regular supportive team meetings.
Thank you so much for choosing to support East Cheshire Hospice. You may never know how much your gift means, but we know that it will make the world of difference to our patients and their families.
Register your Christmas tree for collection by January 6th & we’ll collect it on the 10th or 11th.
Book now, donate & give the gift of care this Christmas.
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