The Macmillan Butterfly Centre at Epsom Hospital and the Cancer Information and Support Centre at St Helier Hospital provide information and support to anyone affected by cancer, and those who are worried about the risks of cancer.
Both centres provide a friendly and relaxing environment offering free information and support on:
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cancer awareness and prevention;
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signs and symptoms to look out for;
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treatments;
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emotional support;
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access to complementary therapies;
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other appropriate organisations.
Read more about the centres and what they have to offer
Become a volunteer
Both centres depend on volunteers for the smooth running of their service.
Fully qualified therapy practitioners volunteer their time to offer complementary therapies such as Reiki, acupuncture and massage.
In addition, fully qualified counsellors offer their time to offer their services to people affected by the disease, whether they are patients, family or friends.
But you do not need to be a qualified health professional to volunteer: we also rely on volunteers for our front-of-house team. This involves reception work, meeting and greeting, making teas and coffees, as well as other administrative and project work.
What you can expect to do as a volunteer
We will explore with you the ways in which you can help as a volunteer. We need volunteers for a range of tasks including reception service, serving refreshments, contributing to the running of the information room, general administration such as typing and filing, and talking with visitors.
We are also looking for volunteer complementary therapists who can give some time to offer their skills to the benefit of patients and their immediate family.
Wherever your skills and interests lie you can be certain that you will be providing invaluable support to our healthcare team and clients.
What we are looking for in our volunteers
We're looking for a team of friendly, approachable volunteers who are committed to our centres and their aims. You will need to be sensitive to the feelings of others, and a good listener. Respect of confidentiality, and reliability are of course crucial to the centre.
Whilst by no means essential we would welcome people with personal experience of cancer. However, as a general principle we recruit only when there has been a span of at least two years between having a personal experience of cancer and becoming a volunteer.
And finally, you will need to be a team player with good communication skills and a sense of humour!
What we can offer you
You will be joining a friendly, supportive team of diverse professionals all working together in the interests of people affected by cancer.
We would provide you with an induction course prior to starting with the centre which will be backed up by further training as necessary to enhance areas such as cancer awareness, listening and responding skills, coping with loss and bereavement and any other relevant areas.
To find out more, please contact a member of the team on 01372 73 5456.
