Why volunteer for us?

As we celebrate our volunteers during Volunteers’ Week 2024, we look at the incredible work they do across the Charity and the Hospice and the benefits of volunteering.

We currently have around 760 volunteers who give up their free time to support us. Some give their time every week or every month and others help us from time to time, for example in the theatre, selling programmes at our recent Strictly Florence show or chaperoning children in our On Stage performances.

We have 515 volunteers in our 13 shops around Buckinghamshire, supporting our shop managers by sorting donations or organising our book or window displays and much more.

Other volunteers have green fingers, helping out in the award-winning Hospice garden, providing a sanctuary for patients and their families at the most difficult of times.

Some, like Elaine, are bereavement listeners, specially-trained volunteers who listen to bereaved families, sometimes going into schools to help children talk about their grief and their feelings after losing someone that they love. She also takes the tea and cake trolly around the Inpatient Unit every Monday, talking to to patients and their families as they have their teas and coffees.

“My dad liked afternoon tea and had benefited from hospice care, and I felt that I wanted to give back,” Elaine said.

Other volunteers like husband and wife team Bernice and Tony, work with our retail team in our Hazlemere shop, preparing the clothes before they are put onto the rails to sell. They talk about the mental health benefits that volunteering offers them, allowing them to switch off and forget about any problems and how good it feels to give back to the community. You can watch their video here.

Volunteer May started off shaking collection buckets for us outside of supermarkets, she now comes in regularly to help count donations. Her husband benefited from our hospice care, but she had started volunteering for us several years before this, and felt that she already knew us. You can see May’s video here.

We’re holding thank you events for our volunteers to show how much we appreciate what they do to support the Charity. We couldn’t do it without them, and we wouldn’t want to.

If you’re interested in volunteering please get in touch volunteering@fnhospice.org.uk or see our latest vacancies online. There are loads of benefits to volunteering, it helps you engage with the community, meet new people, provides structure for your day, helps you learn new skills, improves your wellbeing as well as showing how much you care about a cause such as hospice care. Why not give it a try?

Situations vacant:

Online Sales Volunteer

Do you have a love of pre-loved selling sites? Have you got an interest in researching and listing unusual or sought-after treasures? We’re looking for enthusiastic people to join our Online Sales Team. Our team of volunteers play an invaluable role testing (and fixing!) items prior to sale, researching, photographing, listing, packing, and dispatching.

We do not require experience of online selling platforms. Basic computer skills, an interest in photography/research and a willingness to learn would be beneficial.

Volunteer Gardener

If you like planting, weeding and watering then this could be the perfect opportunity for you. We’re looking for volunteers to help out in the Hospice garden on weekdays, and help create a beautiful place for our patients and their visitors to relax. The garden won an Aylesbury in Bloom award last year and is an important part of the Hospice.

Volunteer PAT Tester in Wendover

Would you like to learn a new skill? PAT testing, or Portable Appliance Testing, is a short examination of electrical items to make sure they are safe for general use.  This is an essential part of any checking process when we receive electrical items. We can help you get trained up so that you can help provide this valuable service and continue selling lamps, coffee machines and air fryers in our Wendover shop to raise valuable income for the Hospice.