Volunteer FAQs

St. Rocco’s currently have over 450 volunteers. Volunteering is a lot of fun as well as being a great place to meet new people and make friends. Our volunteer opportunities enable you to learn new work-based skills, boosting your CV. The donation of your time supports our work in providing free care to patients and supporting their families.  It’s good for wellbeing, and can help increase confidence. 

We work flexibly with volunteers to fit the times they are available with the needs of the service. Some volunteers give a few hours once a year to help with fundraising events, others volunteer regularly each week in a specific role within a department, or in our shops. Volunteers need to be reliable, committed and dedicated to their role. This ensures that the highest levels of service and care are achieved.

The minimum age to volunteer at the Hospice is 17 (i.e. after Year 12 for those wishing to work with patients).  You can start in our shops at the age of 16; we also take Duke of Edinburgh volunteers in our shops, depending on availability.

All our volunteers receive training and an induction to a specific role; we will ensure that you are fully trained and feel comfortable before you start your volunteering activity.  You will have a manager and will never be asked to do something you are not comfortable with.

You can volunteer while receiving benefits as long as you continue to meet all the conditions of your benefit.  You are advised to tell the office that pays your benefits about any volunteering that you are planning to do before you start.

If you’re looking for paid work, you may agree with Jobcentre Plus to do some volunteering as part of your activities to prepare for work.

If you get Universal Credit, your volunteering can count to up to half the time you agree to spend looking for and preparing for work.  For more information about this, visit Volunteering and claiming benefits - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We welcome everyone. If you have a disability or additional needs that you think may affect your volunteering, then please contact us and we will be happy to advise you.

Volunteers are not paid for their time, but you are entitled to be reimbursed for your travel and other reasonable expenses.  We can help you complete an expense claim form.

Look at the roles we have advertised in the volunteer vacancy section below. You will see a role summary and the commitment required and can also download a more detailed description of the role. For more information, click here: Volunteer | St Roccos Hospice or call the Voluntary Services Team on 01925 575780.

You can view our Retail Volunteer Application Forms here or our General Volunteer Application Form here.

Shops - we will pass your details directly to the link manager for your chosen shop.  They will contact you to arrange an informal chat and if both of you are happy with the plan, an induction and start date will be arranged.

Hospice - we will contact you again as soon as we have received your references to arrange an introductory visit and very informal interview to chat about your selected role, or any other roles within the Hospice. Please note that for some roles there may be a waiting list.  We will then carry out the relevant pre-volunteering checks which are:

• Copy and check identification documents
• Enhanced or standard DBS check, dependant on role

Once we have successfully completed the pre-volunteering checks, role specific training will be arranged, followed by a start date.

To find out more about our volunteering, you can talk to our Voluntary Services Team by calling 01925 575780, emailing volunteering@stroccos.org.uk or visiting our website page: https://www.stroccos.org.uk/volunteer