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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…
Description

Noah's Ark provides regular Family Activities including Family Days, Parent Groups and Sibling Groups; designed to provide fun and free days out, allowing families the opportunity to meet others in similar situations and to take part in new activities in an accessible environment. Becoming an Activities Support volunteer is a serious commitment but it provides a rewarding opportunity to directly support children with life-limiting / life threatening conditions and their families.

Duties

Family Days

  • Setting up the room
  • Greeting and directing families
  • Running activities for family members
  • Supporting individual families
  • Assisting with refreshments

Parent Groups

  • Assisting with the crèche by playing and reading with babies and toddlers

Siblings’ Groups

These groups are for the brothers and sisters of the children we support. There are three groups, ages 5-9, ages 10-13, and a youth group for siblings aged 14+. Main activities / tasks include:

  • Escorting siblings in taxis or on public transport
  • Supporting and befriending siblings throughout the activities
  • Assisting and encouraging siblings to take part in the activities

Noah’s Ark Children’s Groups

These groups are for the children referred to us with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions and are divided based on the children and young people’s ages and conditions. Main activities / tasks include:

  • Working 1:1 with a child, alongside our team of Specialist Carers and Nurses, to support them engaging in activities
 
Who will the volunteers be working with?
Noah's Ark staff, volunteers and families that Noah's Ark support, including children with life limiting/life threatening conditions.
Training
At Noah’s Ark we value volunteer support, and we are also aware that not all roles are suitable for everyone. The interview and training process is in place to ensure that the Noah’s Ark staff get to know more about you, to ensure that you are given the correct training for the role and so that you can find out if this is a role you would like to undertake. The training process is as follows:
Volunteer Information Session: All potential volunteers have to attend one of these sessions before they are able to get involved in any capacity. Interview This will take place at the Noah’s Ark Office at a mutually agreeable time.
Core Module: Any volunteers wanting to work directly with Noah’s Ark families are required to attend a 3-hour training module on a weekend day morning.
Home Module Training: A weekend day afternoon session to prepare volunteers for the specific requirements of the Home Support Volunteer role. This training takes place immediately after the Core Module.
Safeguarding Training: 1 morning or 1 evening, depending on the schedule, this helps to ensure the safety of our service.
Training programmes are run at regular intervals throughout the year.

Time commitment

The majority of Family Activities take place either at either weekends or during school holidays, and usually last around 6-7 hours in terms of volunteering time. We are currently looking to specifically recruit Family Activities Volunteers who are available to volunteer at events held on weekdays during school holidays.

We ask that Family Activities Volunteers commit to supporting us for a minimum of 12 months, volunteering for at least 1 Activity per quarter – there is no upper limit on the number of activities at which a volunteer can support!

Family Activities Volunteers are required to complete and return written Support Records following an Activity, and to attend Supervision (support groups) run by Noah’s Ark Care Team staff every three months.
Application deadline

This organisation is one of our community partner organisations.

Like all volunteer recruiters we work with, they have signed up to our service standards, agreeing to abide by our policy on partnership working to keep you safe and supported whilst you volunteer.

You’ll never be out of pocket for volunteering through us – with in-London travel expenses to and from your volunteering guaranteed.

In addition, the team here at Students’ Union UCL Volunteering Service is here to support you throughout your volunteering journey – you can get in touch with us at any time.