Noah's Ark Children's Hospice
Noah's Ark Children's Hospice is a community based hospice service providing clinical, emotional and practical support for families of children and young people with life-limiting/life-threatening conditions in the North London Boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington and Hertsmere. Our current services include Specialist Play, Specialist Care, Family Activities, volunteer support…
Idea for research
Idea for research
At Noah's Ark Children's Hospice, we help babies, children & young people and their families to make the most of every day. We are North and Central London's children's hospice, supporting over 350 families who have a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening health condition.

Home Support Volunteering is one of our key programmes, established to help families cope with the demands of providing constant care. Home Support Volunteers provide a range of practical and social support to the families of children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in the community and helping them make the most of every day. Since starting the programme in 2008, we’ve gathered extensive anecdotal evidence and positive feedback. We’re now seeking to conduct a systematic evaluation to demonstrate the impact of Home Support Volunteering in depth.

To this end, we would like to partner with a master’s student to explore the impact of the programme. Our programme could be one of a number of case studies within a broader dissertation, or be the entire focus of the research.
Data collection could involve interviews with family members and home support volunteers

Noah’s Ark would provide the student(s) with the same training we give Home Support volunteers, preparing them to navigate sensitive topics while working with vulnerable groups. This would also include safeguarding training.

Existing data:
• Number of matches and families supported
• Types of matches (e.g homework, household jobs, befriending for parents etc)
• Possibly the geography of matches
• Volunteer retention data
• The impact HSV has on volunteers
• Match reviews
Impact of idea
Through exploring the value of the Home Support programme, it is hoped that this research could:
• Demonstrate the value of Home Support Volunteering, for sharing with funders, service users, volunteers and the sector.
• Contextualise the programme within a broader sector.
• Enable critical reflection with the goal of improving the programme.
• Enable evidence-supported funding applications and advocacy.
• Enable best-practice sharing with other organisations seeking to establish similar programmes.

If you have any existing data or information you would like included in a project, please tell us what kind of data these are

What new data or information would you like to be collected in this project?

Data generated through this idea

Application process
Application criteria
Application Criteria:
• A high level of maturity and sensitivity. The student would be working with sensitive topics around terminal illness and bereavement. They will also be required to undertake the organisation’s Home Support training programme to ensure they are fully equipped for any interactions with service users.
• Flexible and adaptable. Noah’s Ark’s service users are dealing with many stressors and any data collection involving them will need to be scheduled with flexibility towards last-minute changes to accommodate the families’ needs.
DBS needed
Yes
Is this project fully accessible to students with the disabilities?
Yes
Disabilities information
Can be fully accommodated to suit student accessibility needs.

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