Helpful information

Garden House Hospice Care will...

• Communicate with volunteers regularly with relevant and up-to-date information
• Provide appropriate training to our volunteers
• Offer a supportive and positive environment that fosters a rewarding and creative volunteer experience
• Recognise volunteer’s contributions and give thanks and encouragement
• Reimburse authorised out-of-pocket expenses
• Consult with volunteers when appropriate and keep them informed of possible changes
• Provide a safe workplace
• Respond to any problems volunteers may have in an appropriate and timely manner.
  

In return, we ask volunteers to...

• Regard themselves as representatives of Garden House Hospice Care; to commit to open, honest, respectful, professional, and discreet communication with other volunteers, staff, patients and their families
• Respect the rules of the Garden House Hospice Care regarding confidentiality; to understand that any information about patients, their families and friends, staff and other volunteers is strictly confidential and must not be discussed outside the organisation
• Avoid contacting hospice staff, volunteers, patients, customers, visitors or anyone else associated with Garden House Hospice Care via their personal devices, accounts or addresses i.e. personal email, social media accounts, mobile phone etc. without prior consent from both parties
• Resign from their volunteering role at the earliest opportunity should they be employed by Garden House Hospice Care as a member of staff in the same department, team or shop, ideally allowing time to give notice before commencing their employed role
• Participate in appropriate training, as required
• Undertake their volunteering role with their full interest, attention, and professionalism
• Give us as much warning as possible whenever they cannot attend when expected
• Accept that Garden House Hospice Care reserves the right to ask a volunteer to cease their volunteer role at any time should there be a breach of any of the below volunteer guidelines.
  

Representing the Hospice

As a Hospice volunteer, you are a representative of the organisation. Please bear in mind that people may form an opinion about the Hospice based on your actions.

Confidentiality and data protection

As part of the Hospice team, you are bound by a code of confidentiality and have signed a Statement of Confidentiality. Things that you see or hear as part of the team must not be discussed with anyone outside the organisation. This includes via social media and email.

During your volunteering, you may come into contact with personal and confidential information. This information might be about people, such as names and addresses or even information about peoples’ circumstances, families, health, and other private matters. It might be about technical, commercial, or financial matters. We must ensure individuals and other organisations can trust us so it is vital everyone understands what information they can and cannot share. No information can be disclosed without express consent by the individual concerned.

What to wear

Please wear sensible, comfortable clothing and footwear, appropriate to the duties you will be performing. All volunteers receive a badge which must be worn whenever Hospice duties are being undertaken. Specialist items such as gloves or hi vis jackets will be provided depending on your role.

Parking

Certain locations may have parking spaces available for volunteers to use - please check with your manager. If they 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, and we will reimburse the expense.

If you are volunteering at the Hospice and are able to, please find suitable off-road parking to allow the limited spaces at the Hospice to be used by our patients and their visitors.

Expenses

We never want you to be out-of-pocket when giving your time to volunteer for Garden House Hospice Care. Here we explain everything you need to know about claiming reasonable expenses.

What can I claim for?

Reimbursement will be considered for costs directly related to your volunteering activities such as authorised items purchased on behalf of the Hospice or travel to and from your place of volunteering. For regular volunteering, travel expenses to the venue closest to your home address will be paid, unless that location is unsuitable or inaccessible due to a health condition or disability, or where there is a business need for travel to an alternative site. Your manager or a member of the Volunteer Engagement team can advise you further.

How can I make a claim?

Follow these simple steps to make an expense claim:

1. Before incurring any expenses, please contact the Volunteer Engagement team for authorisation. We wouldn’t want you to be out-of-pocket for something which cannot be claimed back.
2. Complete an expense claim form within three months, attaching receipts where relevant. Multiple entries can be included on the same form.
3. Submit the claim form to your manager or the Volunteer Engagement team for approval, along with your bank account details - name, number and sort code. Alternatively, you can email your bank details directly to the Finance team at finance@ghhospicecare.org.uk.
4. We’ll let you know if we have any queries, otherwise your claim will be passed to our Finance team for payment, usually within two weeks.
   

Signing in and out

Please remember to sign in and out using the process for your volunteer location. This is very important in the event of a fire or emergency evacuation.

Security

You are responsible for your own personal items. Please do not to bring anything valuable with you and use lockers when available. Ask your manager to point you in the direction of the safest place to store your personal items. If working at the Depot, please keep your belongings away from the sorting area so they are not confused with donations.

Volunteer purchases

Volunteers are welcome to purchase any items from our shops and receive a 10% discount.

Support

Such is the nature of our work that you may come across a situation which you may find emotionally and psychologically distressing in some way. To alleviate this as much as we can you are encouraged to:

• Attend regular supervision (patient facing roles only). Supervision provides a reflective space to develop self-awareness and reflect on practice. It is designed to be enabling and supportive. Taking part in supervision is a requirement for many health care workers from their professional bodies to support them and is now being integrated into the volunteer role, to ensure we care for our volunteers.
• Talk to a member of staff at the end of your shift. We do not want you to mentally take anything detrimental to your wellbeing home with you. Qualified staff are always on hand.
  

Computers

Should you regularly need to use a computer in your volunteer role you will be set up with your own login details and email address if required. Computers should only be used for activities related to your volunteering and are not for personal use.

Communication

Communication is vital to the smooth running of our organisation. Please take time to check notice boards and read your emails for information and updates.

Attendance

If you are unable to attend your shift for any reason, please notify your manager as soon as possible. Not turning up without notice can disrupt the running of the department or shop you volunteer in, so please do take a moment to let us know.

Shifts

We understand that volunteering needs to be flexible. Hours and days can be discussed with your manager so that volunteering suits both you and your team.

Raising concerns

Sometimes things do not go well, and you may want to raise an issue or problem. Please speak to your manager in the first instance or contact the Volunteer Engagement team if this is not possible.

Gifts

Only small gifts may be accepted on behalf of the whole team (e.g. flowers or chocolates) where it is clear the intention is to express thanks. If a patient, family member, customer or visitor wishes to donate, they should be referred to your manager.

Saying farewell

Whilst we do not like to lose any member of our volunteering team, we accept all good things may need to come to an end. When you feel that it is your time to leave us, we ask that where possible you provide two weeks’ notice to allow us to plan ahead. Occasionally, there may be a reason why we need to ask you not to volunteer any more. We will only need to do this in exceptional circumstances because we are concerned about your health, safety, behaviour or conduct.