Macmillan Volunteers
People who have life threatening medical conditions, such as cancer, and their carers often find it a confusing and lonely experience. It can be difficult to find someone to talk to who isn’t a family member or a medical professional.
Macmillan volunteers provide an extra person to talk to, face to face or by telephone. They have the time to listen and provide support, either as a one-off or on an ongoing basis, dependant on the person’s needs and desires. Support is usually at least two to three hours support a week for 12 weeks.
Macmillan volunteer roles cover:
- General Support for patients and carers
- Dementia Support
- Immediate and Longer Term Bereavement Support
All volunteers complete an application form and are interviewed for a role. If successful you are then DBS checked and complete a full induction and training programme in a wide range of issues to support you in providing high quality and confidential support.
As a Macmillan Volunteer you will:
- Visit patients and carers in their own homes or contact by telephone to chat with them and check on their health and well being.
- Provide some practical support with daily living as required, such as running errands, transporting patients to hospital appointments, gardening or sitting with a patient to allow a carer to go out for a break.
- Provide practical support immediately after a bereavement.
This video shows Macmillan volunteers talking about how much they get out of their role:
