Cornwall Hospice Care - Donation Centre Volunteer

Cornwall Hospice Care is a 24/7 Cornish healthcare charity that provides specialist support for people with terminal illnesses. We support patients and their families at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice in St Austell and at St Julia’s Hospice in Hayle.

We have 4 donation centres across the county each with a wonderful dedicated team of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly sorting donated items into categories for sale or recycling to maximise resale value.

So what is the role?

The volunteering opportunities in our warehouse are varied, interesting and rewarding and no two days are the same. You can learn how find and identify higher value brands or antiques that can be sent to our boutiques and retro stores or saved to be sold through our online shop. Volunteers help to load and unload the vans, move seasonal goods for storage and assist with moving items ready for distribution to our stores. They also help process and prepare our donated stock; separating items that are for recycling from saleable goods. You may be taking in donations at the drop off point and greeting and thanking our generous supporters.

Your duties may involve:

• Sorting and preparing donated goods to sell or recycle
• Lifting and moving items according to Health and Safety guidelines
• Selecting stock for redistribution or recycling
• Helping drivers load and off-load stock
• Providing excellent customer service
• Encouraging customers to Gift Aid and processing it accordingly

Hours

You can volunteer in the majority of our Donation Centres from Mondays to Saturdays 10.00am – 4.00pm (please check as this changes at the moment).

We encourage you to do either a morning or an afternoon shift, however, you can do as many or as little hours as you like flexible to suit you.

Your skills and qualities

You don’t need to have any previous experience as we will provide free training for your role.

If you are able to be reliable and adaptable and possess a good sense of humour with a willingness to help that’s all we need. However, we would love to hear from you if you have a keen eye for detail, or are methodical by nature and enjoy finding treasure!

The tasks of the Donation Centre Volunteer role may require the volunteer to stand or walk about for periods of time and lift items such as boxes and full bags, so preferably you should be physically able to carry out these duties.

Induction and Training

To find out if you like working with us you can come in for a taster session that’ll last for one to two hours and have a go at some of the tasks, like sorting or preparing for deliveries alongside another member of the team who will show you the ropes.

All our volunteers receive an induction, which includes a welcome tour of the Donation Centre, a brief on health and safety procedures and an introduction to the team. You may also be shown some of the equipment you will be using, including the Personal Protective Equipment that will be necessary for some of the duties.

As a volunteer you’ll be expected to complete some mandatory training modules which are relevant to the role, this will be explained by your Donation Centre Manager on your first day.

COVID-19 Precautions:

Cornwall Hospice Care want to keep all our staff, volunteers and customers safe and have put additional control measures in place.

• Everyone is required to follow all government guidance at all times.
• Personal protective equipment is provided
• Social distancing guidelines are in place
• Sanitisation, disinfection and additional cleaning procedures are in place

What will you gain?

• A rewarding experience in a dynamic warehouse environment
• Develop customer service skills, and an understanding of logistics and warehouse operations
• A big confidence boost
• Have lots of laughs with people who will become your friends
• Knowing that you are helping your community
• An understanding of a very special Cornish charity