Palliative Care Volunteer Service- Bega Valley

A service of Southern NSW Health Palliative Care, volunteers are placed with cleints for supportive in-home visitations to provide companionship, conversations, and short periods of respite care for carers. This rewarding experience offers you the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life. With training and support, you will quickly feel very comfortable visiting your client each week. Volunteers provide support to patients/ carers who have been identified by the Palliative Care Team, under guidance of the Volunteer Coordinator.  

This role involves visiting Palliative Care clients in their homes providing respite for the carer, companionship, conversations, small practical assistance, or assisting with some special task they might enjoy. We also have a role for people interested in writing bereavement cards to families, client biography, etc. Every effort will be made to match volunteers with the client (e.g. interests, location etc.).

We are looking for people who can ‘be present’ to another, not trying to ‘fit or change anything’ but being a good listener, a companion who can provide just that human caring touch which makes all the difference.

Volunteers placed in the community need to maintain good boundaries and able to work as a team member. 

Volunteers are required to attend monthly group debriefs and ongoing education sessions to ensure you are supported and also provides you with the opportunity of catching up with your colleagues.

Volunteer are required to speak reasonable English. If you speak another language, it would be most welcome.  You will need to have access to your own car with comprehensive car insurance, to visit your client in their home.  

Benefits of palliative care volunteering:

- Sense of Pride in role

- Learning about death and dying with dignity

- Awards and recognition

- Ongoing training and support provided.

- Orientation provided, free but compulsory. 

Eligibility Criteria

Volunteers will be required to have: • National Police Check • Working with Children Check • Immunisation Health Status as per NSW Health requirement • Mandatory face to face training