Ella's Volunteering Story

There are many different volunteering opportunities across Teesside Hospice, from our charity shops and café to directly within our services. Ella volunteers within our Wellbeing Centre, where she welcomes patients and makes sure they feel comfortable:

“I volunteer in the Wellbeing Centre in the Pamper Social group and basically, whenever new people are referred in, I make sure that they're comfortable, they’ve got themselves a drink, and they can chat amongst themselves. Or if they're not as confident, I'll try and either facilitate that conversation between them or talk to them themselves, and sometimes people do just need a bit of a nudge to feel more comfortable in the group. Then a couple weeks in, they feel way more comfortable and they're talking to people themselves, so I feel like my role is just important in terms of facilitating that conversation and making sure they're actually comfortable there.

I graduated university last year.  I did psychology, so I very much went down the route of, I like supporting people, and I thought I could get some experience with supporting people in different types of environments.

I also volunteer in a prison in family support, and I feel like I just enjoy being around people.

I do just enjoy volunteering as a whole, I think. I didn't really think I'd go down this path, but seeing how many opportunities there are with volunteering, I wouldn't even think you could do it in this type of environment, so it is really interesting.

If anyone is considering volunteering, absolutely go for it. You meet so many different types of people and get so much experience that you wouldn't really think you could. And whilst meeting these people, you gain such valuable experience, and it even opens the doors to lots of different opportunities in itself.

It’s just also rewarding in the sense that you know you're doing something good. And a lot of the people in the Wellbeing Centre have said to me, it's really lovely that you just come in because you want to, and they don't then feel like you're there because you have to be there. You're there because you want to talk to them and you want to help them. So it’s really beneficial for them, but also for me.”

If you’re interested in learning more about volunteering with Teesside Hospice, get in touch with our team on volunteering@teessidehospice.co.uk to discuss opportunities!