Kitchen Volunteer

Kitchen volunteers play an important role within the Hospice catering team. You will support the team to produce good quality, tasty, nutritious meals for children, families and visitors to the hospice.

The hospices provide families with support and a break from their day-to-day caring responsibilities. Having a fresh, home –cooked meal can make a big difference to a family’s stay. It helps them to further relax and enjoy a good meal without having to worry about the preparation and washing up!

We’re looking for friendly, enthusiastic people with an interest in cooking and pride in producing good quality meals for families.

What you will be doing

• Food preparation (chopping vegetables, salad, fruit and grating cheese)
• Making sandwiches and preparing tea and coffee for hospice events
• Setting tables for mealtimes
• Serving meals
• Clearing the table after meals
• Stacking and emptying the dishwasher

The skills you need

• A willingness and ability to stand for extended periods of time
• An ability to represent CHAS enthusiastically and appropriately
• An ability to relate to people of all ages
• Good communication skills
• Adhere to rules around GDPR and a strong understanding of confidentiality

What's in it for you

• A flexible role to fit around your life
• Meeting new people and being part of a team
• Making a real difference to the families of children with a life-shortening condition
• Utilising existing skills within a new environment
• Learning new skills, developing your experience

How much time should I offer?

This role is short term between January and April 26. Our hospice will be moving temporarily late Spring/Summer. If you would like to continue to volunteer with us after April, there will be other opportunities we can explore with you.

We would really benefit from some support at the weekends, preferably on Sundays over the busy lunch period. If you have some time between 11 and 2pm that would be helpful. This role is flexible - you don't have to commit to a weekly shift and there may be opportunities to support on other days too.

What ongoing learning/support/guidance will I receive?

It’s important to us that you feel happy, safe and confident during your time with us. As a CHAS volunteer you will be invited to complete a short core learning package that is tailored to your role.

Your Volunteer Manager will provide ongoing support and guidance to you. We have also partnered with the Skills Network to offer all our volunteers the chance to develop new skills and explore further learning opportunities.

We have an Assistance Programme provided by Health Hero to support our volunteers with all aspects of their lives, whether that is at work or at home. This is confidential and free of charge.

What else should I know?

We will pay your out of pocket expenses in line with the CHAS volunteer expenses policy.

CHAS is committed to providing a quality volunteering experience to all volunteers, free from discrimination and prejudice. Ensuring that CHAS is an equal, diverse, and inclusive organisation improves the quality of care we provide, helps us reach more families and children, and maximises a wide variety of knowledge, experience and expertise.

We welcome volunteer applications from those who are refugees, asylum seekers, benefit claimants and those with a disability. We can provide more information about your eligibility to volunteer and any reasonable adjustments we can put in place to ensure your volunteering experience is a positive one.

Disclaimer

This role requires membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme (children only). There is a simple form to complete and we will assist you with this. You may already be a member of the scheme – if so you will only need to complete an update form. The process won’t cost you anything and having a criminal record will not automatically exclude you from volunteering. We will assess each applicant on an individual basis. Further Child Protection training (either online or face to face, approximately 3 hours in length) is mandatory for this role, to be completed within the first year of volunteering with us.