Befriending Volunteer (Worcester)

Why we need you

When children come to Acorns for day care activities and respite stays they enjoy a wide range of activities. The activities are fully inclusive for all our children, many of whom are non-verbal with multiple and complex disabilities. Our Befriending Volunteers are vital in helping staff provide fun, engaging and positive experiences for all our children during their stay in the hospice.

What you'll be doing

Befriending Volunteers engage with Acorns children by supporting them to play and have fun. Whether it’s helping a child to experience the Sensory Room or Soft Play area, enjoying messy time with arts and crafts activities, making some noise during a music session or sitting quietly reading a story, our Befriending Volunteers are at the very heart of what Acorns does.

Volunteering alongside our team of professional nurses, healthcare assistants and play workers, our Befriending Volunteers will enjoy:

• Sitting alongside our children helping them to engage in activities
• Reading stories and looking at picture books
• Playing games
• Helping set up and clear away arts and crafts and other activities
• Chatting and interacting with the children and care teams

How much time will it take?

Befriending Volunteers are asked to complete our online basic training and an in-person Befriending Training session which together take 4-5 hours to complete. Once trained, volunteering with us is flexible and you can choose the days/times that you help us, including early evenings and weekends. 

We ask our volunteers for a commitment of a minimum of one session per fortnight and hope volunteers will stay with us for at least one year.

Am I right for the role?

Befriending Volunteers need to:

• Be welcoming and friendly with a warm and engaging manner
• Have good communication skills
• Be comfortable in a hospice setting, with children who may have complex disabilities and may be
• receiving end of life care
• Be sensitive to the needs of our children, young people and families
• Be reliable
• Be confident to be able to ask for advice, assistance and support when you’re volunteering at the hospice and not sure how to handle a situation
• Be willing to learn about the importance of confidentiality, boundaries and safeguarding within Acorns

We are committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and therefore any successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check for children (which we will pay for and process for you) and will be asked to provide two satisfactory references.