“I volunteer at the Hospice of St Francis in a ‘meet and greet’ role. I’ve been doing it for about a year. It’s about welcoming people with a smile at the main entry point for visitors and patients. It’s not difficult to be friendly to people. I speak to patients’ families and sometimes they sit down and want to chat.
I do the Saturday afternoon shift at least twice a month. Because it’s on a weekend, everything comes through ‘my’ door. There are always lots of visitors for patients, occasional patient arrivals, very occasional deliveries, as well as people coming to make donations of money, equipment and other things.
Sometimes people come just to visit the sanctuary. One young woman explained it to me. ‘My father goes to her grave site, but when I want to remember my mother, I come here. it’s where she died. It’s a wonderful place.’
Every staff member at the Hospice is friendly, helpful and above all, caring. I feel it’s like a parallel universe where everyone is supportive to everyone else. After my shift it takes me half an hour or so to retune to the normal world. If everyone behaved in the same way as the people who work at the Hospice, then the Earth would be a paradise.
I am often asked if I enjoy my voluntary job at the Hospice. I find it a hard question to answer. I do find it rewarding. I do believe that I am contributing in a very small but real way to its work. But I realise that for everything I contribute, I receive much more in return.”
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