Stewart Daniels has been a volunteer driver with the Victoria Hospice for three years.  When he retired from the Strathclyde Police Force ten years ago, he became interested in a volunteering role, and was told about volunteer driver roles through the Retired Police Officers' Association.

I asked Stewart about his role and he told me, "This is the most fulfilling role I’ve ever had. I'm available to patients any day of the week, and I do on average 2 or 3 sessions per week. I am always given one week’s advance notice of my schedule and I absolutely love being a volunteer driver."

I asked Stewart how he is supported in his role and he stated, "I am very well supported in my role at the hospice. I must say that the Volunteer Manager here is very invested in ensuring that volunteers are looked after.  She does an excellent job."

Stewart told me that at times it can be difficult when he gets to know patients and they pass away, but was optimistic that he was a positive source of help saying, "For some patients attending the day hospital is the highlight of the their week, and part of my role is to improve their day. I feel I can do that by making their journey comfortable and providing a listening ear, when required”.

I asked Stewart about his expectations of the hospice when he began his role. He explained, "I had no experience of being in a hospice setting, and I did anticipate that it would be downbeat. However, I have found it to be one of the most vibrant places and I think that is testament to the staff and volunteers."

The Victoria Hospice has a dedicated Volunteer Manager, Teri Perry. Teri is spoken highly of by volunteers and staff, and takes on a varied and busy workload to ensure the volunteers are safe, and that their roles are sustained and effective. Teri has been in post for 14 years and recruits all the volunteers, of which there are currently around 80 in placed roles. Teri carries out research to better understand and improve volunteering in the hospice and develops all the roles.

I asked Teri about the recruitment process and she explained to me that due to the sensitive nature of the roles, she takes each prospective volunteer through an initial visit, so they can get an idea of the role and location. She sends each volunteer away with information to read and they have some time to decide. She says that it is not always for everyone. Often people who have been bereaved are keen to apply to volunteers. However, she cautions, "Volunteers in the hospice environment have to be quite resilient. We spend time at the initial interview finding out what each applicant's reasons are for wanting to volunteer and what their motivations are." She went on, "We also ask that people don’t come to volunteer directly after a bereavement. We ask that they take some time out before being back in this type of environment."

Teri has a robust infrastructure in place around recruitment and has an open door policy when it comes to support and supervision. There is a real sense of kinship and community with staff and volunteers working well and having much respect for one another.

Teri offered some final words around what makes volunteering in the hospice so important: "The palliative care journey is the loneliest journey in the world, and offering our patients companionship is fundamental to all volunteer roles. There is a quote that I really enjoy: 'The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.'"