Our Volunteer Assistant Chaplains, come from different background: they are trained pastoral and spiritual care visitors, who are available to spend time with people using services during their stay in hospital and those living in the community with mental health issues.
Becoming a volunteer
You will become an approved “Volunteer Assistant Chaplains” by:
- Completing our Introduction to mental Health issues in spiritual and pastoral care (Ten weeks course)
- Apply to become a volunteer
- Application submitted to volunteering manager
- Attend interview
- Accepted by senior chaplains as suitable and safe to practice
- Relevant clearance checks completed
- Willing to undergo ongoing training and supervision
If you are interested or would like further information about becoming a chaplaincy volunteer, please contact the chaplaincy department. You might also want to discuss your thoughts with your local minister or spiritual leader. We expect that those who come forward for training as volunteers will do so with the full support of their home church or faith group community.
What our volunteers say:
"I worked as an Occupational Therapist for over 20 years, mainly with elderly patients and the last 20 years working in Older Adult Mental Health. During this time I realised how important the opportunity to worship was to individuals whatever their Faith might be. During several years of working, I had the privilege of facilitating such acts of worship to take place. Volunteering has a different perspective from being a health professional – you are there as a ‘guest’ not a worker, and the rights and responsibilities are different. This can sometimes be difficult to remember!
I have been volunteering with the chaplaincy team at the Meadows for a few years now. I began because I discovered that the regular service had stopped, because some staff had left, and the Chaplains were then unable to gather the patients into the central area for a service.
I realised that this provided patients with an opportunity to meet and talk with others outside of the ward experienced which enhanced their life within the hospital. This is important whether or not the person is a regular worshipper in a ‘normal’ setting or the occasional attendee at Christmas and Easter.
My time at the hospital includes enabling worship by acting as a ‘gatherer’ bringing patients to the central area or sitting with them whilst others are coming, leading the worship or making the tea afterwards. All of these activities provide opportunities to interact in different ways. The collective Act of Worship provides a sense of peace and wellbeing in some, an easing of loneliness in others. For some people, it brings back memories (especially important for dementia sufferers) of a time when they were at school or with family. Occasionally this can be upsetting and it is rewarding to be able to just sit quietly and provide a paper-hankie and a listening ear.
These different aspects of the fortnightly services at the Meadows all add up to a rewarding experience, which makes me think more deeply about my Faith. When I am leading the service it causes me to find ways to engage, both touch, smell and sight and to really consider what the Bible passage is teaching us all. Overall it is a chance to enrich the lives of the patients and serve in a different way which, in turn is an enrichment of my own life."