Volunteer handbook

Thames Hospice Volunteer Handbook

February 2026

VOLUNTEER

HANDBOOK

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Thames Hospice Volunteer Handbook

February 2026

We have

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We need to ra is

£39,000 e

each day to fu nd our services 365 days a year

About Thames Hospice

Proudly serving the community of East Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire for more than 37 years, we work in partnership with our local healthcare colleagues to provide specialist palliative and end-of-life care services to people aged 16 and over in their homes and within the Hospice.

Treating everyone with kindness, compassion and providing a safe and caring environment is at the heart of everything we do to support those facing a life-limiting condition. We are committed to delivering care that is agile and responsive so that we give patients and their families choices about the care they receive, providing the highest quality clinical and therapeutic care within our Hospice and in patients’ homes, supporting the physical, social and psychological needs of our patients and their loved ones.

Our highly skilled doctors and nurses work with patients and their families to develop a complete programme of care tailored to their needs, treating everyone with dignity and respect. Our services are free of charge to all those in our community who need vital hospice care, but this is only made possible through the charitable support and generosity of our community. We receive a 26% financial contribution towards our operating costs funded by NHS England and need to raise £39,000 each day to fund our services 365 days a year to the people who need us most.

Welcome We are thrilled you chose to volunteer with us here at Thames Hospice and would like to extend a big welcome to you.

We have an incredible team of volunteers who support us across the organisation and it is great that you have joined them! Volunteers enhance everything we do, whether that is enabling us to raise more money to fund our services or directly enhancing the experiences of our patients and their loved ones. We can’t do what we do without the support of every volunteer in all areas of the organisation, so thank you for choosing to donate your time to Thames Hospice.

We hope you enjoy your time volunteering with us, if there is ever anything we can help with, please don’t hesitate to contact the Volunteer Services team.

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Thames Hospice Volunteer Handbook

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Our model of care Our patients and their families are at the centre of everything we do. Our three core services are Hospice at Home, Inpatient Services and Hospice Outpatient Services which all supported by our clinical, counselling, pastoral and bereavement support teams.

Some of our care team

Our services Inpatient services Our Inpatient Services unit houses individual ensuite bedrooms each with their own outlook and patio area overlooking the lake or our gardens. The rooms are fully equipped with all necessary equipment including hoists, specialist beds and pumped oxygen and also sofa beds for relatives to stay too if they wish. Patients come to our Inpatient Services unit for symptom control and of course, end of life care. The Unit also has facilities for relatives to stay separate to the patient’s bedroom, kitchen areas to prepare their own food and drinks and children’s areas to give them space to play and relax.

Our Wellbeing team deliver a range of services including complementary therapies, physiotherapy, bathing services and lymphoedema services. They also run an outpatient day service where patients come for a few hours, access outpatient clinics and partake in group therapies and activities such as physio, yoga, crafts and gardening. Most importantly it enables patients to socialise and support people in similar positions to themselves. At the Hospice we have the Paul Bevan Wellbeing Centre which is a dedicated space for therapies including a gym, activity and dining room, individual therapy rooms and spa bathrooms with special baths to support people with mobility difficulties.

The Virtual Ward offers the same level of Consultant-led care that a patient would receive in our Inpatient Service but in their own home.

The Hospice at Home Care Team offers domiciliary care with up to four visits a day to provide personal care, change dressings etc. The nursing-led Hospice at Home team offer care for patients 24/7, including a phone line for carers to call in the middle of the night if needed.

The clinical team visit patients in their homes providing the care they need to stay at home.

Counselling support services We offer counselling and bereavement support for patients and their families including one-to-one and group settings. We also have specialist child and family support workers to support children and young people with bereavement. Our pastoral care team provide spiritual and emotional support in a nondenominational way, but we are also supported by faith leaders from around the community. The team support patients and families in all areas of our care services.

Hospice at Home Many patients are keen to stay in their own home and our Hospice at Home team enable them to do that whilst receiving our expert care. The overall service is made up of a few different parts to enable us to be agile to suit the patients’ needs at any point in their time with us.

Our counsellors

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Hospice at Home staff

Thames Hospice Volunteer Handbook

February 2026

Our history

Prior to the merger, The Paul Bevan Cancer Foundation was formed by Mrs Penny Bevan Rahming following the death of her husband. Along with her husband’s GP, Dr Geoff Cook, she had identified a lack of day-to-day support for local people following a life-limiting diagnosis and so set about filling that gap. They originally opened in Sunninghill in 1985, 10 years later they then opened Paul Bevan House on the Heatherwood Hospital site in Ascot.

Thames Valley Hospice was founded by two groups from churches in the area; St Anthony’s RC Church in Slough and the Justice & Peace Group of St Joseph’s RC Church in Gerrards Cross. The project was led by Dr Douglas Denny and his wife, Pauline.

In November 1987 the Hospice was built on the Hatch Lane site on the Dedworth side of Windsor and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Over the following years a number of services were developed at Thames Valley Hospice, including bereavement support, education services for professionals and Hospice at Home.

In 2009 the Pine Lodge building was extended again to create a new Reception area and additional counselling rooms.

In 1991, Anne, the Duchess of Norfolk visited the Hospice and encouraged Lady Diana to see the work, which she did in the following year.

In 2005 Thames Hospice, as it exists today, was formed following the merger of Thames Valley Hospice and the Paul Bevan Cancer Foundation.

In 2012 the Hospice celebrated its 25th anniversary and Queen Elizabeth II made her third visit to the Hospice.

In 2017 we celebrated our 30th anniversary and were visited by the Prime Minister at the time, Theresa May.

In 2002, Thames Valley Hospice was extended to provide two more inpatient beds.

As Thames Valley Hospice and The Paul Bevan Cancer Foundation were offering similar services a close distance apart it seemed natural that the two should bring their services under one organisation and so Thames Hospice care was formed in 2005.

In 2014 the Sanctuary was opened

by HRH, The Countess of Wessex.

This was a unique multi-purpose, spiritual space offering peace for patients, visitors, volunteers and staff.

In 2013 Thames Hospice was honoured with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, which is the equivalent to an MBE for groups. The award recognises the hard work of the volunteers that keep its services going. In the same year Thames Hospice care becomes Thames Hospice and new branding is launched to ensure the charity remains sustainable in a tougher external environment.

In the late 2010’s the Hospice commissioned a report to help understand what the need for hospice care would be in the local area over the coming decades. The report found that the Hatch Lane site would not be able to accommodate all who need our services, therefore work began to find a new site and then to build a brand-new Hospice.

In 2016 the Day Therapy Unit moved over to the Windsor Pine Lodge site following redevelopment plans for the Heatherwood Hospital site, where the unit was based.

In February 2019 we held the official groundbreaking ceremony which signalled the start of building a new Hospice on the Windsor Road between Windsor and Maidenhead.

Despite delays to building due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the new Hospice opened in October 2020.

In July 2022 we had the honour of being visited again by Queen Elizabeth II and the Princess Royal to officially open the new hospice building.

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Funding

Our Board of Trustees

It currently costs over £19 million each year to keep our services going; all our services are completely free for our patients and their loved ones. Currently only 26% of this amount is funded by the NHS therefore we must fundraise the balance ourselves.

The Thames Hospice Board is made up of 12 trustees.

The trustees have responsibility for directing the affairs of the charity, ensuring that Thames Hospice meets its strategic objectives whilst complying with charity law and the Charity Commission requirements. The team has been carefully selected for their breadth of experience and has representatives from the medical, commercial and charity sectors. Trustees are volunteers and as such are not paid for their work with the Hospice. The Board of Trustees meets every quarter to discuss and make decisions on Thames Hospice activity.

Retail We have 21 shops across the Thames Valley area that raise money by selling preloved clothes, toys, homeware, accessories, books, DVDs and other items.

This includes our flagship stores, Reading Superstore and Maidenhead Homestore, specialising in preloved and upcycled furniture as well as our vintage and retro shop in Windsor and our online eBay store.

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Our volunteer roles

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We have a range of roles that volunteers fill; from roles based at the Hospice, such as patient facing roles as Inpatient Services Assistants, Receptionists and Café Assistants. As part of our Therapies team, we have volunteers such as Craft Assistants, Yoga Instructors and Drivers. Across our stores we have a number of Retail Assistant, Visual Merchandising and Distribution Centre roles. Many of our office-based teams are supported by volunteers too.

Volunteering in the Hospice Parking Volunteers can either park in the staff parking area, (follow the driveway to the right and the signs directing you to the staff car park) or the main car park.

Dress code Although volunteers have no uniform please bear in mind the nature of your volunteering and wear clothes that are appropriate, inoffensive and safe for your place of volunteering and type of role. For the majority of volunteering roles (those in clinical, driving, kitchen or retail roles in particular) open or backless shoes are not permitted due to the nature of tasks involved.

Signing in When you are onsite for your volunteering shift, please remember to sign in using the electronic signing in pads in the front reception. It’s also important to sign out at the end of the shift so that we know you aren’t onsite anymore.

Breaks There is a staff kitchen and break area on the first floor where there are hot and cold drink making facilities, fridges and microwaves.

We also have an on-site cafe to purchase food and drink, which is open to the public too.

Key fobs To get around the building you will need a key fob to open certain doors. When you arrive for your shift, please sign a key fob out from the front Reception desk or from your Volunteer Manager and then please remember to sign it back in again at the end of your shift.

If you lose the key fob during your shift or have any problems using it please speak to a member of the Facilities team.

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Thames Hospice Volunteer Handbook

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Volunteering in a shop Parking Certain shops have parking spaces available for volunteers to use directly behind the shop. If these are not available volunteers are encouraged to park in a free area of parking, however if this is not possible or not safe we ask that you park in the most cost effective area of parking within reasonable distance of your shop and we will reimburse the expense. Please see the Volunteer Expenses policy for more details.

Storage of personal belongings Shops have lockers with keys for you to use to store your bags. Please ensure that any personal belongings are kept away from the sorting area so they aren’t confused with donations. Ask your manager to point you in the direction of the safest place to store coats and umbrellas.

Dress code There is no specific dress code for retail volunteers however we recommend that you wear something comfortable that you can easily move around in. For safety reasons, please wear closed toed shoes.

Signing in When you are onsite for your volunteering shift please remember to sign in and out using the sheet normally located in the rear of the shop.

Breaks All shops have kitchen and bathroom facilities for volunteers to use, with refreshments available free of charge.

Training & Support Mandatory training All volunteers are required to do some mandatory training, but the amount and content will be dependent on the role you are carrying out and the location. We do try to make the training as manageable as possible for you whilst making sure we comply with health and safety legislation, our insurance requirements and the requirements of our regulatory body, the Care Quality Commission.

For roles based within the Hospice, we will set you up on our training platform Blue Stream Academy, for which you receive an email to set up your log in. The modules can then be completed online from anywhere, including while you are on shift if you wish. Our Education team are on hand to support you if you need any help completing the online training, including setting you up on a computer at the Hospice if needed. We do also offer the opportunity to complete the same training face-to-face, if you would prefer that method, and will let you know dates of these sessions as and when they are arranged. For roles based in retail, we have a short training module that you will either complete faceto-face with your shop team shortly after you start and then annually from that point. We do alternatively have the option to enable you to complete it online and will send a link to set you up on this.

Induction training This will be conducted by your manager or another appropriate person in the department or shop.

It involves working through an induction checklist which will explain about the practicalities of your location, such as lockers, toilets, fire exits, and where to make tea and coffee etc. You will also receive training on how to carry out the tasks involved in your role, this may include shadowing another volunteer. We also run four Induction Events every year at the Hospice at Bray Lake where you can find out more about our Hospice, what we do, how your contribution as a volunteer makes it all happen and a tour of the Hospice.

Support Your manager and any other staff that may be involved in your role will regularly check-in with you to see how you are getting on and to provide support if needed.

However, if you ever feel you need support, whether that is practical or emotional Communications We communicate with volunteers through our easy to use app Volunteero. In the app you can keep your own personal details up to date and for some roles you will be able to book onto shifts and find ad hoc fundraising opportunities. It’s a mobile app that puts your volunteering, training and communication in the palm of your hand. To keep you up-to-date with everything happening at Thames Hospice, including news, events, updates from our shops, staffing vacancies, stories from our patients and much more, we send out a monthly Volunteer Email Update, sent via email to the address you supplied when you joined. If you did not consent to communications in your application, you will not be added to the mailing list, so if you would like to receive

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this, please contact volunteers@thameshospice.org.uk to be added. From time-to-time we also send out additional emails with updates or asks for volunteers to support with events, for example.

We have a Hospice magazine, Moments, that is published twice a year, and copies are available to you to pick up from where you volunteer.

Meetings Wherever possible we hold departmental Volunteer Meetings, organised by your manager or in retail they are organised in regions. This is to provide you with an update on what’s going on generally in the organisation and more specifically in your area. It’s also a good opportunity for you to ask questions and share ideas.

Social media Thames Hospice is represented on many forms of social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X in particular. We encourage volunteers to follow these pages to hear more about what is going on at the Hospice and to enable us to spread the word about our work. We would be grateful if you can ‘like’ and ‘share’ our posts which helps us to reach more people. Our Marketing and Communications team closely monitor our social media pages and will respond should any member of the public have a question, complaint or comment.

Please remember to be a good ambassador for the Hospice whilst using social media.

Expenses Volunteers are entitled to claim reasonable out of pocket expenses in connection with your volunteering.

Such expenses would include travel expenses to and from your place of volunteering and travel costs incurred as part of your volunteering (picking up patients for example).

The Hospice is unable to pay for any meals, taxi fares (unless pre-arranged) or parking outside of your volunteering hours. Full details on what you can claim and how to claim can be found in the Volunteer Policy.

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DBS checks For certain roles, volunteers are required to complete Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks before commencing their volunteering and then again every three years or if you are absent from your volunteering role for more than six months and wish to return. This is generally only applicable for volunteers in patient facing roles or are based in the Hospice.

Security Whilst volunteering, please remember to always wear your Thames Hospice badge, to enable all patients, visitors, customers, staff and other volunteers to recognise that you are a volunteer. If you are based at the Hospice, you will be loaned a key fob to get through various doors around the building, please ensure you keep this key fob on you and return it at the end of your shift. Please be aware of other people that you let through doors and if you see people in places where they shouldn’t be please alert the nearest staff member. If you are using a computer, please keep your log-in details safe and ensure the computer is locked if you are stepping away from it for any reason.

Privacy notice Thames Hospice collects, stores and processes personal information about prospective, current and former volunteers. We want to be able to contact you, know who to contact in an emergency and to be able to report on our diversity to the Board of Trustees. We are committed to being transparent about how we collect and use that data and to meeting our data protection obligations.

You can see our Volunteer Privacy Notice, which contains all this information visiting the Thames Hospice website.

Raising concerns Sometimes things don’t go well and a volunteer may wish to raise an issue or problem. Please raise this in the first instance with your manager, where this may not be appropriate, please contact the Volunteer Services team. Full details of our Problem-Solving Procedures can be found in our Volunteer Policy.

Freedom to Speak Up All volunteers have the right, duty and the opportunity to raise concerns of suspected wrong doing that is occurring, has occurred or is likely to occur.

If you have any safeguarding concerns these should be reported to your manager or the Freedom To Speak Up Guardian, James Goodwin: freedom.to.speak.up. guardians@thameshospice.org.uk

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Thames Hospice pledge to volunteers To explain how the organisation works and the volunteer’s role within it, and to communicate with the volunteer regularly with relevant and up-to-date information about where they volunteer.

What Thames Hospice asks of volunteers To respect the rules of Thames Hospice regarding confidentiality: to understand that any information about patients, their families and friends, customers, staff and other volunteers is strictly confidential and must not be discussed outside the Hospice.

Acknowledging your fantastic contribution Thames Hospice and all our colleagues recognise the invaluable input that you will bring, and we work hard to ensure you feel appreciated for everything you contribute to the organisation. To express our thanks, we host thank-you events, including an event in June which is usually an afternoon tea held at the Hospice.

We also mark Volunteers Week, which is a national week to celebrate volunteers and volunteering in the UK. Volunteers are also awarded for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service to the Hospice and receive a badge and certificate when you reach these milestones.

Contact details Your Volunteero mission will give you your direct manager’s contact details, however the Volunteer Services team will endeavour to help wherever possible and can be contacted via the details below: volunteers@thameshospice.org.uk or 01753 842121

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