FAQs for volunteers

We offer a variety of volunteer roles across all our hospitals so you can find the right fit for you. These include helping patients and visitors find their way around the hospital, supporting staff and patients on our wards and lending a hand in the hospital’s retail outlets. You can browse our latest volunteering opportunities here.

At the moment you must be at least 18 years old to volunteer in our hospitals. However, we also have a separate volunteering programme for young people aged 16 to 21. You can find out more here.

For most of our volunteer roles you won’t need any specific skills or previous experience. If your application is successful, we’ll provide you with information to help you in your volunteer role as part of the training and induction process. All we ask is that you’re friendly and enthusiastic, with a calm, patient manner and a desire to help others.

We hope that volunteering with us will help you gain lots of new skills. Many of our volunteers tell us their experience with us has helped them improve their communication and social skills, as well as providing a unique opportunity to gain experience in a healthcare environment. Others say they learned useful knowledge about therapy techniques and providing peer-to-peer support.

We understand you may have other commitments and limited free time to volunteer with us. With that in mind, we’ve designed our volunteer roles to be as flexible as possible. For most of our roles, the length of a shift ranges from one hour to six hours. Some roles have more specific timings, such as our Mealtime Support Volunteer roles, which are organised around mealtimes on our inpatient wards. When you start volunteering with us, we’ll also ask you to complete a minimum of six months where possible.

We’ll ask you to provide contact details for two referees. These referees should preferably be people you know in a professional capacity, such as a school teacher, university lecturer, a previous volunteering supervisor or a manager from your workplace. It could also be a community leader, such as an imam or a vicar. If you’re not sure who to include as a referee, please get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to advise you. Our volunteer roles also require a DBS check and this is made clear on the role description. You can find more information about what you need for a DBS check here.

In order to volunteer with us you’ll need to be able to prove that you have a legal right to work in the UK. If you can prove your legal right to work, you can apply to volunteer with us and we’ll consider your application. If you’re living in the UK on a visa, you’ll need to make sure your visa permits you to volunteer in the UK and adhere to any terms and conditions of the visa..

A criminal conviction doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t volunteer with us. It’ll depend on the nature of the offence and the role you’re applying for. If the role is subject to a DBS disclosure, please get in touch with us for an initial conversation. You can email [email protected] or call 020 3005 6391.

Once you’ve applied, we’ll contact you to explain the next steps. We’ll aim to contact you within five working days of receiving your application, and we’ll keep you updated throughout the application and selection process.  If you’re successful at one of our selection events or interviews, we’ll help you get started as quickly as possible. However, this will depend on the volunteer role you’ve applied for as some roles require additional checks. Before you start volunteering, we’ll also ask you to complete a Core Training session. We aim to complete the entire process – from application to starting as a volunteer – within three weeks, providing you’re able to meet any requested deadlines.

Yes, we’ll reimburse any out-of-pocket expenses in line with our Expenses Policy. You’ll just need to submit a completed expenses form and include receipts for any purchases you’ve made. For each volunteer shift, we’ll reimburse you up to £11 for travel and up to £5 for refreshments.

Yes, you’ll have a named member of hospital staff who will be your main point of contact for day-to-day activities and questions when you’re volunteering. You’ll also have a dedicated Hospital Volunteering Team based at the hospital who will be able to support you with expenses, training updates, additional learning opportunities and any other queries you may have.

We’re currently unable to offer work experience opportunities directly. However, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has a separate programme that does provide work experience opportunities. You can find out more here.