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Home Visiting Volunteers

The Home Visiting Service offers counselling, healing, massage and reflexology, as well as befriending. Recruitment is taking place between February and March and the training course will be taking place between April and June 2011.

We have the following qualification requirements :

all volunteers offering reflexology and massage need to be fully qualified and registered with a recognised professional organization
candidates offering healing need to be qualified and accredited by the College of Psychic Studies or the NFSH
candidates offering counseling support need to have completed a two year diploma course in counselling
befrienders need no formal qualification as training will be given but an ability to listen to another person is essential.

Our volunteers come from a variety of personal, cultural and professional backgrounds. We aim to reflect the community in which the service is based. We look for qualities such as motivation, maturity and reliability in our volunteers.

All volunteers attend an in-depth training course, which gives them the necessary skills and information to carry out their work effectively and with confidence. They are also made aware of when it is necessary to refer to other services. The course is composed of 40 hours training divided into 11 sessions.

The training is delivered over eleven weeks, including three Saturdays, and will examine the following topics:

Why Volunteer with the Home Visiting Service?
Understanding Cancer
Cancer Treatments
Listening and Being Heard
Boundaries and Stress
Palliative Care
Befriending, Complementary Therapies and Holistic Care
Aspects of Grief
Family Dynamics
Cultural diversity
Induction: How the Home Visiting Service Works.

Volunteers gain a significant amount from the training and from their work. One wrote that the training "was the best and most challenging volunteer training I have ever experienced. It has had a far-reaching and positive effect on my life and relationships."

Another wrote that "all the people I have met have been incredible, from the camaraderie of the other volunteers to the wonderful people I have visited, their families and friends".

All volunteers are provided with monthly group supervision. Supervisors provide a safe and reflective space in which volunteers can explore their practice and experiences, and be supported and challenged appropriately. This also forms part of their continuing professional and personal development, enhancing the skills, knowledge and ideas that they bring to their practice.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact Ruth Wooldridge or Clare Unwin on 020 7924 3924.

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