About
We’re Children’s Hospices Across Scotland. But most people know us as CHAS. For thirty years we’ve been offering a full family support service for babies, children and young people with ...
Childcare Volunteer (Rachel House, Kinross)
Contact person
Scan me or visit www.bethechangepk.org.uk/o/CHAS/activities/Childcare-Volunteer-Rachel-House-Kinross/91912 to join
Summary
Childcare volunteers look after the sibling(s) of children referred to CHAS.Detailed description
CHAS understands that siblings play a crucial role in care, providing emotional support and companionship to their brother or sister. For two to three hours, you will spend time with the child/young person within the hospice or the hospice garden. We are looking for a range of volunteers with a variety of interests, hobbies, and skills to join our volunteer team and expand this service to families. The siblings will be of various ages and stages of development – this service aims to match volunteers with the right child/young person based on availability, experience and interests.
What you will be doing
- Looking after a child(ren) within the hospice/hospice grounds
- Activities may include : Playing games indoors and out , exploring nature , football and other sports , music, arts and crafts , supporting with homework , watching a movie, reading stories , gaming (PlayStation/Xbox/Virtual Reality/educational online games)
- Looking after a child during check in or check out of the hospice
- On occasion getting the child/children ready for bed according to normal bedtime routine
- Liaising with the care team, activities team and wider family support team as necessary
The skills you need
- Experience of spending time with children (through family or work)
- An ability to relate to children and young people
- Patience, empathy, friendly and fun personality
- Great communication skills
- An ability to represent CHAS enthusiastically and appropriately
- Adhere to rules around GDPR and a strong understanding of confidentiality
What's in it for you
- A flexible role, that fits around your life
- Meeting new people and being part of a team
- Making a real difference to the families of children with a life-shortening condition
- Enhancing your skills, experience
- Learning new skills whilst having fun
How much time should I offer?
This is a flexible opportunity. You can volunteer on any day of the week. Key times are:
- 10.30-12.30
- 13:30-16:30
- 18:00-20:00
It can be weekly, fortnightly, monthly or even quarterly. We ask all volunteers in this role to attend at least two quarterly group check-in sessions annually. These are online sessions lasting approximately two hours.
This is a responsive service and there may be weeks and months that are quieter- we cannot guarantee the frequency of requests from families.
What ongoing learning/support/guidance will I receive?
It’s important to us that you feel happy, safe and confident during your time with us. As a CHAS volunteer you will be invited to complete a short core learning package that is tailored to your role.
Your Volunteer Manager will provide ongoing support and guidance to you. We have also partnered with the Skills Network to offer all our volunteers the chance to develop new skills and explore further learning opportunities.
We have an Assistance Programme provided by Health Hero to support our volunteers with all aspects of their lives, whether that is at work or at home. This is confidential and free of charge.
What else should I know?
This role will be reviewed in September 2025 to ensure that it is still required and is adding value to families and volunteers.
We will pay your out of pocket expenses in line with the CHAS volunteer expenses policy.
CHAS is committed to providing a quality volunteering experience to all volunteers, free from discrimination and prejudice. Ensuring that CHAS is an equal, diverse, and inclusive organisation improves the quality of care we provide, helps us reach more families and children, and maximises a wide variety of knowledge, experience and expertise.
We welcome volunteer applications from those who are refugees, asylum seekers, benefit claimants and those with a disability. We can provide more information about your eligibility to volunteer and any reasonable adjustments we can put in place to ensure your volunteering experience is a positive one.
Disclaimer
This role requires membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme (children only). There is a simple form to complete and we will assist you with this. You may already be a member of the scheme – if so you will only need to complete an update form. The process won’t cost you anything and having a criminal record will not automatically exclude you from volunteering. We will assess each applicant on an individual basis. Further Child Protection training (either online or face to face, approximately 3 hours in length) is mandatory for this role, to be completed within the first year of volunteering with us.