Lasting Lessons, which features our Ward Support Programme and volunteers, was broadcast on Radio 4 in September 2024, is now available to listen to on BBC Sounds. Prior to the broadcast, volunteers Farida and Ben travelled to BBC Broadcasting House to speak about their experiences on The Today Programme.
Ward Support Volunteer Programme
A unique opportunity to work directly with patients
Are you thinking of pursuing a career in healthcare and want to gain experience in the field? Would you like to gain some hands-on experience working with patients? Do you want to know what it’s like to work on a ward with multi-disciplinary teams? Are you curious to see compassionate care in action?
If yes to all of the above (and you are aged between 17-19 years by the start of the programme), this could be the programme for you! In exchange for a few hours every week, we can help support your career ambitions by providing you with meaningful and valuable experience volunteering directly with patients in our In-Patient Unit (IPU). Our Ward Support Volunteers get amazing opportunities on every shift to care for patients and support our nurses and healthcare assistants.
Over the course of this 6 month programme, you will interact with patients and staff on a weekly basis gaining invaluable insights into compassionate healthcare and expanding your skill set, knowledge, and confidence. You’ll also meet other Ward Support Volunteers with similar interests to you. At the end of the programme, we recognise and celebrate your volunteering journey with a certificate of your achievement.
You must be able to commit to volunteering one session every week, for six months, with minimal absence. There will also be one training day (held on a Saturday).
There are two application windows per year for the Ward Support Volunteer programme and when applications are open, the details will be shared as a volunteering vacancy. If you’d like to register your interest outside of these windows, please contact the Volunteering Team on 01372 461856 or email [email protected].
Hear from some of our Ward Support Volunteers
Shreya
‘I absolutely loved my time volunteering at Princess Alice Hospice!’
As a 17-year-old pupil at Tiffin School in 2017, Shreya remembers herself as ‘very shy, quiet and reserved, the youngest in the year’. As an A Level student, she hadn’t seriously thought about her career path but says it was the Ward Support Volunteer programme at Princess Alice Hospice that first inspired her to consider Medicine. In January 2025, Shreya took her final exams at Imperial College London and is now a qualified F1 Doctor. She has chosen to focus on oncology and palliative medicine in an ‘elective block’ of her studies and in May this year she returned to Princess Alice Hospice for a 2-week placement. 
‘I loved the nitty gritty of the volunteering programme and it’s what made me want to apply to do Medicine at Imperial. My parents are so grateful to Princess Alice Hospice, it’s had a huge impact on our family. Vanessa (Head of Volunteering at the Hospice) was my Buddy while I was volunteering and she’s a household name in my house! She played a huge role and was so lovely and supportive during my time here.’
In her third year of university, Shreya spent a year focusing on endometrial cancer but also took a paid job in the Princess Alice Hospice shop in Kingston to subsidise her studies, which she remembers fondly.
Back at the Hospice, Shreya has spent time shadowing the Doctors, attending ward rounds and assisting with admissions on the In-Patient Unit. She has also spent time with people in the Wellbeing Centre and visiting people in their own homes with members of the Hospice at Home team. Shreya reflects: ‘the Hospice Doctors are so good, they’ve had years of
experience in previous roles before but are so dedicated to their specialty. People here are so lovely, they say hello and they know who you are. As a student you’re often in the background but I’ve been so involved here, some of the staff even remembered me from my volunteering days!’
Shreya knows that the perception of palliative and end of life care by her peers is that it’s particularly challenging, emotionally. However, she feels this is often because they haven’t had much exposure to it (though Imperial does recognise its value and there is a 2-week module on palliative care in its fifth-year curriculum). Shreya herself finds it ‘incredibly rewarding, you’re helping family members too, it’s the whole team, the whole environment.’
‘The care is exceptional, the consultants are so knowledgeable and have such high standards, they’re on top of the latest research and at the forefront of palliative care.’
Shreya is hopeful her younger sister will be able to join the volunteering programme soon: ‘It gives you really good exposure from a young age, it’s about dealing with people so it gives you life skills that aren’t just specific to healthcare; I think it would benefit people who are creative or considering a career in the Arts, too.’
