Themes
The aim of the service to help people get through their bereavement and is available to the families and friends of anyone who had links with the hospice before their death.
What the service provides
About four weeks after an individual has died the Bereavement Service writes to anyone in the ‘family’ section on their form, asking if they would like support. This is followed up by a phone call which may elicit the need for other services, such as help with benefits. If an individual decides they need support the Bereavement Service will provide individual or group counselling and will provide information about other services to those individuals who need other forms of practical help.
Counselling support is provided on a one to one basis, either in the hospice or in the individual’s home. There is a loose contract but the client will decide when they no longer need the service: this can vary considerably but the average length of contact is about a year. Group support is provided for those people who wouldn’t choose individual counselling and takes the form of closed groups which run for six weeks. The Bereavement Service also organise monthly thanksgiving services, led by the chaplain, for people who were bereaved over the past few months, and a drop in event just before Christmas for people who are concerned about facing Christmas without their loved one. Approximately 150 people attend the morning where there is a choir, Christmas tree, candles with mince pies and mulled wine, to encourage people to take part.
Induction, Training and Motivation
Potential counsellor volunteers undertake a forty hour training course which is very intense and helps them decide if this is the right kind of volunteering for them. This includes a very clear confidentiality agreement as they are likely to bump into clients in the local community. They have a final interview at the end of the course and then become a probationer for six months where their work is closely supervised. After that they are assessed and interviewed, and are then able to work unsupervised, although as part of the team which meets regularly for group supervision and ongoing development. Seven of the team have also been trained as group facilitators and run the group sessions in pairs, and some team members have been trained as supervisors to support the induction and probation processes.
Individual volunteers are initially motivated by wanting to give something back, and find the training and team-meetings, along with the enthusiasm of the volunteer co-ordinator, continue to keep them motivated. They also have summer and winter events which help keep them motivated, and in touch with each other.
Who are the volunteers?
The bereavement service is run separately from the other hospice voluntary services and has a very loyal and committed team of volunteers, some of whom have been involved for almost twenty years when the service first began. These volunteers are recruited by word of mouth, including some from the hospice volunteers, and all have had some experience of loss in the past, although the scheme does not recruit volunteer counsellors who are recently bereaved.
There are twenty counselling volunteers, aged between 40 and 85, sixteen of whom are women, and four men. Between April 2005 and March 2006 they provided 4321 volunteer hours, so approximately 200 hours each. There is one paid co-ordinator, and one co-ordinator who is a volunteer.
Further information
Joanna Fenning
Counsellor
Phyllis Tuckewell Hospice
Waverley Lane
Farnham
Surrey
GU9 8BL
Tel. 01252 729400
e-mail joanna.fenning@phyllistuckwellhospice.org.uk
www.phyllistuckwellhospice.org.uk
