Volunteers like Sharon bring touches of home to hospice care.
Sharon was working part time, and with her children fully grown up, she decided she would look for some volunteering work. She googled and saw that Isabel Hospice were looking for volunteers for the In Patient unit and their retail division.
There is no doubting Sharon’s warm and engaging manner, and as she loves chatting to people, she decided to draw on her previous 8 years spent as a nurse and use those skills volunteering in a patient facing role.
The volunteer’s office arranged for her to do a trial shift at the Hospice, shadowing another volunteer. She loved it, signed up and slowly took on more responsibility. She works a 4-hour shift which starts with checking in with the chef to find out what food orders there are. Families and friends who wish to eat at the Hospice are asked for a small donation, but our patients can eat whatever and whenever they like, with our catering staff often cooking individual dishes to order.
Sharon can see how Hospice care is so hugely different. “When it comes to the patients, we are encouraged to spend as much time chatting with them as they like. I recently spent 40 minutes with one patient who had just been told some bad news. It is hard but it costs nothing to care. Sometimes I just sit with them, holding their hand, other times we chat – its up to them what they want.” There is no doubt in Sharon’s mind that her previous training has helped her enormously with her role at the Hospice. “You get to know them and their relatives and their friends. Patient contact is not for everyone, but you can try. The training is here to support you. Just do it. Do a shadow shift and give it a go.”
If you are interested in volunteering at the Hospice, our next information session is on Tuesday 18th July 2023 starting at 5.30pm at Living Well Community Hub, Hall Grove, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 4PH. Please allow up to two hours. There is free parking onsite and refreshments will be available. Please email volunteer.office@isabelhospice.org.uk or call 01707 382500 #5.
