VOLUNTEERS CONFERENCE 2008
CHAS's (Children's Hospice Association Scotland) 900 volunteers have donated over 79,000 hours worth of time over the past year. This is the equivalent of a donation of over £1million to the charity.
To mark this contribution and to celebrate Volunteers Week, volunteers from around Scotland will attend the CHAS Volunteers Conference in Hampden, Glasgow on Saturday 7 June 2008. Volunteers with 10 years service will also receive a special award on this day.
Roslyn Neely, CHAS Director of Fundraising and Communications, said "Our volunteers are the lifeblood of CHAS. Without them we couldn't provide the love, care and support to the hundreds of children and families who use our hospice services each year. Our volunteers do a variety of jobs from cooking, cleaning and gardening in our hospices, to serving in our shops, helping with admin, doing speaking engagements and fundraising.
"Our annual conference is an opportunity for us to thank our volunteers and bring them up-to-date with developments at our children's hospices Rachel House in Kinross and Robin House in Balloch, and our CHAS at Home service."
Jill Fraser, CHAS volunteer speaker said: "Volunteering to be a speaker for CHAS gives me the chance to spread the word about the fantastic work which CHAS does in supporting children with a life-limiting illness.
"Most CHAS speakers get involved as volunteers because they've heard about the organisation through the media, or perhaps they know someone who has used the services at one of the hospices. I wanted to do something for CHAS as a way of saying thank you for all the care and support which my family received from Rachel House when our first child, Caitlin, was alive. I know, first hand just how much of a difference a few days of respite can be, or how much it can help knowing that there is always someone to talk to at the end of a phone when things get too much at home. Meeting other families at the hospice helped us deal with some of the isolation which faces most parents in our situation.
"More than anything I try to get across that the children's hospices are lively places - even although all the children there are living with conditions which mean they are unlikely to live into adulthood, they are places which celebrate life and I think people listening are often surprised at how life-affirming a talk about CHAS can be."
If you would like to become a CHAS volunteer please contact:
Lynne Bryson, CHAS Voluntary Services, 0141 229 5470 or lynnebryson@chas.org.uk
Article posted: 03/06/2008