FAQ

We rely on the support of volunteers across all departments. From covering reception to serving refreshments in our hospices and helping in our shops, our volunteers enable us to raise funds and deliver our services. You can find available opportunities on our volunteering opportunities page.

Opportunities include:

• administration
• shops
• catering/housekeeping
• complementary therapies
• creative art activities
• driving
• events and fundraising
• flower arranging and gardening
• maintenance/decorating
• public speaking/ambassador
• reception
• telephone support

We’ve got lots of volunteering opportunities for you to choose from. You can start searching online right now.

Yes, for some roles. We have a responsibility to protect the children and young people we work with, so we will carry out a DBS (formerly CRB) or disclosure check where needed. This can sometimes take up to a month, but is not a difficult process and you will be given help to complete the forms if necessary.

Normally all volunteers must be over 18 with the exception of retail volunteers who must be 14 years or over.

If a role requires a specific commitment, we’ll always let you know first. Otherwise you can give us as much or as little time as you like.

A morning or an afternoon, whatever you can give we really appreicate. But if you only have an hour to spare, we'll be just as grateful.

It's very easy: All you need to do is visit our volunteer opportunites page to search and register for volunteering positions.

Yes you can. If you think your disability might make it difficult for you to volunteer, please call us on 01271 325 270 and have a chat with our HR team about your needs. We can advise on which of our opportunities are accessible to you.

Yes, we welcome volunteer expertise and ask that you complete our enquiry form with a brief description of your professional background. 

Our team of dedicated volunteers help run our charity shops across the South West, both behind the scenes and on the shop floor. Our retail roles consist of:

• Welcoming customers to the shop, advising and helping them
• Promoting Gift Aid
• Supporting other volunteers
• Serving customers at the till
• Dealing with stock donations
• Stock preparation, sorting, steaming and pricing
• Replenishment of stock on the shop floor
• Visual merchandising - creating windows and displays
• Administrative tasks such as stocktaking
• Van drivers' mate - on the road helping our van drivers
• Researching items for ebay

Volunteering with Children's Hospice South West is a great way to:

• boost your CV
• learn new skills and put existing talents to use
• get involved in your local community
• make a difference to someone's quality of life
• increase your confidence and self-esteem
• meet new people

We’ll do our best to let you get involved as much as you'd like, and hope you have fun along the way!

Yes. Many of our volunteers work full time. We aim to provide flexible roles which can be carried out around your other commitments, be they work, family or leisure.

No, but the more relevant experience and qualifications, and perhaps most importantly, enthusiasm you have the better.

With our college partner we are able to offer NVQ units in Retail Skills and Customer Service through our shops. Contact your local CHSW shop manager or find out about NVQs at CHSW Shops.

Yes. We can train you for most of our roles. Volunteering can be a great way to develop your skills while boosting your CV.

We have three hospices along with more than 30 shops across the South West.  Take a look at our volunteer opportunities page to search for roles local to you.

We don’t offer internships at CHSW. But if you’re interested in volunteering, you can find a list of current roles on our volunteer opportunities page.

When opportunities for paid roles arise they are advertised in our jobs and volunteering section.

Consideration will be given to short term work experience placements at your local CHSW shop but levels of work cannot always be guaranteed. If you are interested in arranging a placement or having a placement yourself please complete the enquiry form on our contact us page.

Our hospice teams have engaging and challenging activities for corporate teams. If you're interested in volunteering in a group as part of your company's corporate social responsibility programme, please contact your local corporate fundraiser or complete our enquiry form.

Our volunteering opportunities don't require a formal interview. We will ask you to complete a volunteer registration form to find out more about you. An informal meet and greet session will then be arranged. This gives us an opportunity to tell you more about our work and role, and to learn about your interests and skills.

Once you’ve applied we’ll contact you with the next steps as quickly as we can and keep you updated throughout the application and selection process.  

If you’re selected, we'll want to get you started as quickly as possible but this will depend entirely on the role and what checks we need to do beforehand. If the role requires a DBS check (we’ll flag this in details about the opportunity) the process can take longer.

This will depend on the role you are taking on, but most volunteers will be asked for at least two reliable references. For certain roles that involve working on our hospice sites you will need a DBS check (formerly CRB), which we will organise for you.

Not necessarily, this will depend on what your criminal record is for and the role you are applying for. We reserve the right to make a decision on a case by case basis.

Volunteers are covered by CHSW's insurance policy while engaged in any work on behalf of CHSW.

We will provide any training that is necessary.

We ask volunteers to pay their own expenses as we feel as much money as possible raised should go directly to support and care for our children and families.

CHSW is unable to support individuals requiring visas to volunteer in the UK as we do not have a sponsorship licence.

The majority of UK visas allow people to volunteer, although there may be restrictions to the number of hours you can volunteer. If you are unsure if your visa allows you to volunteer we recommend you contact the UK Border Agency. We may request verification of this.  Please note that Tourist/ Visitor visas and Student Visitor visas (usually students visiting for six months or less) do not allow people to volunteer.

We offer a range of fun and innovative volunteering opportunities to all of our corporate partners.

If you would like to find out more about corporate volunteering at work we'd love to hear from you.  Drop us an email and we'll be in touch shortly.