Caring Communities
A weekly visit or a telephone call weekly, at a designated time, for up to eight weeks.
To provide companionship for our patients and their carer.
Our services
The scheme provides a volunteer who will visit or telephone weekly, at a designated time, for up to eight weeks.
This is a social visit or call to provide companionship for yourself, and your carer if required.
Our volunteers are fully trained and have undertaken a Disclosure and Barring Service check.
Feedback from our patients
“It was someone to associate with, company, information, all sorts of things. It was a very happy time.”
“If I was feeling a little low, felt better after the phone call”
“I look forward to the calls and have benefited from them as I am sure others would.”
You can read more about how the Caring Communities Scheme has evolved HERE
FAQs
Am I eligible to receive services and how can I be referred?
If you are currently using an Arthur Rank Hospice Charity service, you or your loved ones are welcome to enquire about receiving a visit or phone calls.
Please ask the doctor or nurse providing your care, to refer you.
What happens once I am referred?
The scheme coordinator will call you to discuss the referral and find out a little bit about you before assigning a volunteer to you.
What happens after my eight weeks of calls?
If you are starting a Living Well program then your visits or calls will cease during this period. If you are receiving other Arthur Rank Hospice Charity services, and it is felt you would benefit from the continued support, then we will assign you another volunteer.
Is the service free of charge?
The Caring Communities service is grant funded, and the visits or telephone calls are provided by volunteers, so this service is completely free of charge to you.
It will cost £11.51 million this financial year to operate our services. Contracted services from the NHS are budgeted at £7.07 million, meaning that £4.44 million needs to be raised through donations, fundraising activities and trading.
We are extremely grateful to our local community for the continual dedication, commitment and generosity they show in supporting us to meet this target.
A Patient who was linked with a Caring Communities VolunteerWe hit it off right from the start; we’re both chatter boxes. It was a very happy time. I hope the next person enjoys Anne’s time as much as I have. The way it works is very good; nice that Anne could come to the house