Compassionate Communities Group Volunteer

We’re looking for volunteers to help run our Compassionate Cafés and Hubs – safe, relaxed spaces where people can connect, share, and feel supported.

Our Compassionate Communities provides community‑based support beyond a patient’s palliative, end‑of‑life care and bereavement needs, working with local partners and volunteers to reach more people earlier. The focus is on tackling the loneliness and isolation often experienced by people facing a life‑limiting illness or who are affected by bereavement and loss.

• Welcoming guests with a smile and a cuppa
• Setting up the café space and keeping things cosy
• Chatting with visitors and offering a listening ear
• Helping create a warm, inclusive atmosphere for everyone

No experience needed – just a friendly nature, reliability, and a willingness to help others feel ’ll give you all the support and training you need.

We will have an informal chat with you to check that the role is right for you and ask you to come to our training course. We then ask you to complete an online application form (we can help you with this) and ask for a personal reference. There is no DBS (Criminal record) check for this role.

All our volunteers come on a 1‑day training course. These are held every two months and alternate between our offices in Watford and St Albans.

We also ask you to read our Volunteer training book before you start volunteering.

• Age limit: Volunteers aged 18 or over
• Hours per session: 2–4 hours
• Availability: Flexible (Morning, Afternoon, Evening)
• Days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

At Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care, our unique care provides a lifeline of compassion and support to patients, carers and families facing progressive life‑limiting illness.

We provide palliative and end‑of‑life care support, including bereavement services, within Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, and our patient services are available to adults, as well as patients transitioning into adult services (16‑25 years). Bereavement support is offered for all ages to families of patients and those around them, as well as throughout the community, in schools and workplaces.

We offer care in the place that best suits the individual’s needs, whether that’s at home, in a care home, a short stay in our inpatient unit, out in the community or in our purpose‑built Living Well Centre facilities. As a hospice care charity, we have offered this support, free of charge, for over 40 years.