At Prospect Hospice, we provide outstanding, personalised and compassionate care for everyone in Swindon, Marlborough and the surrounding areas affected by a life-limiting illness, completely free of charge. For more than 40 years, we’ve been a dedicated, non-hospital, end-of-life care service for patients and their loved ones - around the clock, every day of the year. Our mission is to ensure that anyone can access the best possible expert care whenever and wherever they need it – whether at the hospice or in their own home. As a charity, we only exist because of the generosity and support of our amazing local community.
Find out about the range of end-of-life care services that we offer to patients and their families. These delivered free of charge and are designed to provide compassionate, personalised support during every stage of a life-limiting illness in every kind of care setting, to anyone who needs it.
We couldn’t do what we do without considerable support from our local community. Find out all the different ways in which you can support Prospect Hospice, including fundraising, volunteering and purchasing from our shops. All contributions are greatly appreciated and enables us to deliver care that is free of charge to our patients and their families.
Our café sits at the heart of our hospice in Wroughton and serves a range of delicious home cooked meals to suit all tastes. Whether you're looking to catch up with friends over lunch or relax with coffee and cake, our Heart of the Hospice café has you covered.
Whether shopping with us in person or online, or donating your pre-loved goods, we thank you for supporting us through our shops where you help to raise around £2million a year for Prospect Hospice.
We pride ourselves on being a great place to work and we're always looking for outstanding people to join our team at the hospice across all areas of the charity.
Prospect Hospice is the leading provider of education and training for end-of-life care in Swindon and north Wiltshire. Working closely with you, our colleagues within partner organisations, we want to ensure that the very best care is available to everyone facing the end of life. This is why we provide education and development opportunities, all of which aim to encourage learning and build confidence in end of life care and support.
Su Starkey, head of volunteering, learning and inclusion at Prospect Hospice, lifts the lid on what being a volunteer is all about.
Q: How many people volunteer for Prospect Hospice?
Around 600 people volunteer for us, from all parts of our local community – we are very lucky indeed. We’ve also have a steady stream of people applying to join us, which is fantastic – but we can always do with more help.
Q: Where do the volunteers work?
Pretty well everywhere! We have volunteers in just about every department and on every site. Walk into the hospice building and you’ll be greeted by volunteer receptionists, who do a great job on our front desk and phones. Then we have volunteers helping out in admin, counting coins in finance, helping the fundraising department by collecting our Prospect Hospice charity boxes, or in our café, helping serve lunches. We also have volunteers on our inpatient unit, supporters helping our clinical admin team with ordering medical supplies and the more green-fingered volunteers help keep our grounds looking beautiful. Some volunteers go out to visit patients in their homes and spend a few hours with them, while their carers take a break. And of course our board of trustees is made up of volunteers, too.
Q: What about in your Prospect Hospice shops?
Yes, we have an army of wonderful volunteers in the shops, and there are also a lot of retail volunteers working behind the scenes to make sure goods are collected, sorted, priced up and distributed to the shops. We sell on eBay, too, so volunteers who are au fait with technology help our online sales team.
Q: What makes a good volunteer?
The one thing they all have in common is that they are very committed to Prospect Hospice. They come to us for all sorts of reasons – some want to give something back because a family member or friend was cared for by Prospect Hospice, some are looking to make new friends, and some – especially students – feel it would be helpful on their CVs if they can show they have volunteered in a hospice setting, and experienced working on an inpatient unit. Our volunteers come from many different backgrounds, but what they all share is a determination to give 100% of themselves, and to make a really positive difference.
Q: Do volunteers have to commit to work a fixed number of hours?
That depends on the role they want to fill. For some roles, such as in shops or on the inpatient unit, we do ask people to commit to a minimum number of hours a week, as they are an essential part of the operation. Other roles are more suitable for people who can’t commit fixed hours.
Q: Are volunteers trained and supported?
Absolutely. They all receive an induction when they start, then have regular reviews to make sure they are happy in their role, we offer support to get into a role if they have any disabilities or particular needs, and there is refresher training to keep everyone up to date.
Q: Isn’t the hospice a sombre place to work?
Not at all! People sometimes expect it to be doom and gloom, but it’s actually a cheerful, can-do place where no two days are the same. And it’s so motivating seeing the volunteers – even if I’m having a bit of a rubbish day, I only have to talk to a volunteer and I remember exactly why I do this. It’s a great job!
To find out more about volunteering for Prospect Hospice, email volunteering@prospect-hospice.net