What will I be doing?

• The role of volunteers in supporting families is to provide flexible practical and social support to
  children, young people and families, to spend time being there in whatever way can help most
• Practical support for families eg ironing, shopping, gardening, walking the dog, organising rooms, general tidying, driving .
• Administrative activities like keeping accurate records of visits to families and ensuring regular feedback to staff.

What impact will this have?

• Demelza Hospice Care for Children is a registered charity which provides support for families who have a child with a terminal condition. Demelza has hospices in Kent and South-East London and has a community team of nurses in East Sussex. Our volunteers carry out a vital role supporting staff in every area of the organisation. Help Demelza support those who may not live a long life to live a full life.
• To help support the families of the children in practical ways that will enable them to spend as much quality time with their children
• To make a real difference in the day to day lives of our families by helping with something they struggle to be able to do. Decorating a child's bedroom, creating a sensory garden, de-cluttering rooms, doing dog walking and driving to appointments are just some of the ways we can help our families with the Practical Support Project.

Commitment

• Our Practical Support Volunteers provide a service helping families in Kent with practical tasks in their homes or out in the community. Caring for children with terminal conditions can be physically and emotionally draining taking a huge amount of time, so by helping with these everyday tasks Demelza gives parents and carers more time to spend as a family.
  
  The tasks our volunteer team have helped with so far include deep cleaning, gardening, dog walking, ironing and decorating.
• Becoming a practical support volunteer is a serious commitment but it provides a rewarding opportunity and directly helps our families and children. Previous care or family support experience is not essential as all relevant training will be provided to assist you in this role.

Expenses

• Travel Costs

Background checks

• A DBS check is required

Training

• Volunteer Induction including 2 days of Care training
  Data Protection
  Health and Safety
  Mini Bus training is applicable
  
• On going Direct support groups for all care and practical support volunteers.
• Full DBS will be done