Spotlight on Dementia Volunteering
With Dementia affecting 1 in 14 people in our community, East Cheshire Hospice is proud to play its part. If you have an interest in volunteering with patients in the early stages of dementia, then you can help us to deliver amazing care that helps with person with dementia, and their carer too. A volunteer is matched up with a person with early stage dementia, based on shared interests. This offers the person with dementia purposeful activity, or social contact, whilst giving their carer a few hours break, during which time they could get their hair done, meet friends, take exercise, or whatever suits them. The interest in this service has been huge, and we have quite a waiting list of wonderful individuals with dementia waiting to meet volunteers!
We have two versions of our dementia services – Community Dementia companions visit a person in the community. They may stay at home with the person, or may have trips out with them – a walk, a coffee shops, a garden centre – anywhere the person with dementia and the volunteer are interested in. This can take place any time during business hours, it’s a long term commitment – usually a year or two, and we ask the volunteer to commit usually to a couple of hours, once a week or once a fortnight. No personal care is involved, and full support is given to the volunteers throughout training and their volunteering, so they can concentrate on enjoying making a real difference to the lives of the person with dementia and their carer.
We also have a service run from our Sunflower Daycare centre for people with dementia, where the person comes into the centre and the volunteer does enjoyable activities with that person during an eight-week session, after which there is an eight week break.
You don’t need to have had any previous experience of working with people with dementia - a caring nature and a willingness to learn are our only requirements!
Anyone interested in helping someone with dementia in their community a couple of hours per week can call Helena Smith on 01625 664984, or visit www.eastcheshirehospice.org.uk/volunteering
Can you help in our shops?
365 days a year, volunteers from our local communities donate their time and talent to our retail sector. Working as a vital part of our team, they help to raise funds, to deliver the highest quality of care to our patients and their loved ones. Retail and fundraising volunteers contribute hugely to the £7,500 per day we need to operate.
East Cheshire Hospice has three shops, and we are particularly looking ro recruit on Fridays and Saturdays in our Thornton Square shop, and on Mondays and Fridays in our Handforth shop. Here our volunteers recieve donations, sort, price and display goods given to us by supporters in our community. It's sociable work at the heart of our community and our retail volunteers act as ambassadors for the Hospice.
Often customers have personal ties to the Hospice and they may have a story behind their donations. You will be extending the caring ethos of the Hospice to them in taking the time to listen to their experiences. If you'd like to find out more about how you can support our customers and help to fund the care we deliver then please e-mail: hsmith@echospice.org.uk, or pop into any of our shops where you can have chat with the manager or a volunteer and we can arrange for you to play shop for an hour!
Volunteer Vacancies
We are currently recruiting for these roles - please click on the link for more information:
Fundraising is important to East Cheshire Hospice, as we are funded just 17% from the government. Our community fundraising volunteers do everything from planning and running community events for us, serving teas, baking cakes and making handmade goods for us to sell in our shops. If you’d like to find out more about joining a community support group, please email Lisa Ball, Community Fundraiser LBall@echospice.org.uk.
Creating and refreshing all flower arrangements and donations of flowers throughout the Hospice provides a wonderful service for our patients, families and staff to enjoy, making the Hospice as welcoming as possible. This will be perfect for people who have a couple of hours to spare once or twice a month and would enjoy creating a nice environment for our patients. An interest in flowers is preferable, but, you don't need to be a florist!
Our reception desk is run entirely by volunteers – twelve hours per day, seven days per week fielding business calls and visitors, dealing with enquiries and taking donations, but most importantly, welcoming visitors and so beginning the Hospice care as soon as patients and loved ones come through our doors.
If you would like to put your name forward for a current or future vacancy, please download the application form or you can apply online here. Thank you for your interest and support.