The Fourth Wheel webinar series on Volunteering is a practical online course on working with volunteers in palliative care – produced by PACED with support from The Grace Trust.
It helps you understand how volunteers can benefit your organisation, where to begin with recruitment, and how to organise everything when resources are limited.
The programme is specifically tailored for organisers and palliative-care professionals without prior experience in volunteer management—considering the limited time, budgets, and technical skills available.
All webinars are accessible in both English and Russian.
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Webinar 4
Launch Plan for a Volunteer Service
Guest expert: Carolyn Los, Senior Volunteer Service Manager at the Galilee Palliative Care Centre in Greece. Carolyn began volunteering at a very young age, earned a university degree in Human Services and Sociology, and built the Centre’s volunteer service from the ground up
Key Takeaways
- The most challenging part initially is gaining the trust of the professional team, especially if they are not accustomed to working with volunteers.
- Without the backing of management and key staff, the programme will not endure.
- Volunteers can contribute significantly, but their involvement must be deliberately integrated into the organisation’s operational work.
- Volunteers don’t just ‘help’, they improve the care system on emotional, social, and logistical levels.
- Before recruiting volunteers, an organisation must identify the needs they will address and determine who will benefit—patients, staff, or the community.
- The phrase ‘let’s have some volunteers’ is not a strategy; it’s important to understand their specific role and purpose.
- They act as a link between patients, families, and the community.
- Volunteers are a vital resource for raising awareness of the hospice and nurturing a culture of compassion within society.
- In regions where palliative care remains little known, volunteering serves as a means of education and advocacy.
- This is a distinctive and frequently ignored area.
- Volunteers can organise concerts, dinners, and theatre events, and support the hospice’s mission through personal networks.
- Even small initiatives foster visibility, trust, and sustainability.
- However, fundraising requires extra caution; financial transparency and documentation are essential.
- Volunteering is not just about helping, but about bringing people together who share the value of caring for others.
- Every step—no matter how small—moves us closer to a world where no one is left alone at the end of life.
- Define the purpose and value of volunteers.
- Conduct an environmental scan—identify who lives, works, or studies nearby, and who could become allies.
- Develop a realistic plan.
- Prepare core documents, clear guidelines, and safe role descriptions.
- Create a pilot training programme and test the model on a small scale.
- Before starting, every volunteer must complete training that covers:
- Basics of palliative care
- Communication and empathy skills
- Self-care and prevention of burnout
- Understanding grief and loss
- Rules for interacting with patients and families
- No one should begin volunteering without prior training.
- A volunteer is not merely a kind-hearted person, but someone who is emotionally and ethically prepared.
- Volunteering is not advised soon after experiencing a personal loss or being diagnosed with a terminal illness, either in the volunteer or their close family.
- The selection process should incorporate a personal interview to evaluate teamwork ability and motivation.
- Mentorship is valuable but must be well organised to prevent power imbalances or dependency.
- The role of Volunteer Coordinator is vital—without one, the system will fail.
- The coordinator ensures effective communication with staff, maintains safety standards, provides training, and offers feedback.
- Leadership and external partners (lawyers, accountants, psychologists, faith leaders, media) should be actively engaged.
- Legal support should be established, including agreements, consent forms, and personal data protection policies.
- Each region faces its own unique cultural barriers, including religion, language, and attitudes towards death.
- Volunteer programmes should be adapted to local contexts rather than replicated from other models.
- In such environments, volunteers are essential in reducing fear and stigma related to the subject of dying.
- Small, steady steps — ‘drop by drop’.
- Sustained trust and openness.
- Open communication, appreciation, and acknowledgement of contributions.
- Support from leadership and partners.
- Emotional support: supervision, access to a psychologist, and safe spaces for reflection.
- Transparency, safety, and respect as fundamental values.
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This article was first published on the PACED website and is republished here with permission
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