About the role

What will I be doing?

As a Therapy Dog Volunteer, you’ll help to provide valuable emotional support and companionship for patients during their stay in hospital.

Along with your friendly animal companion, you’ll visit a number of our hospital wards and spend time at the bedside with patients who are receiving treatment for a wide range of health conditions.

During what can be an anxious and distressing time for many patients, you’ll help to lift their mood and boost their sense of emotional wellbeing. 

This volunteer role is open to anyone aged 18 or over who owns a trained therapy dog. 

This fun and fulfilling volunteer role will give you the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on patients during their time in hospital as well as developing your own skills.

Some of the main activities of the role include:

• visiting hospital wards with your therapy dog and offering friendly conversation and companionship to our patients
• liaising closely with hospital staff and providing feedback after your hospital visit
• taking care to look after your dog during your visit and ensuring all our infection prevention and control guidelines are followed.

What skills will I need?

We’re looking for volunteers who are friendly, caring and passionate about supporting patients and staff at our hospitals.

You’ll also find the following skills and qualities to be particularly useful in this role:

• excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• a friendly, positive and approachable manner
• the ability to be empathetic, patient and calm in difficult situations
• the ability to work well within a diverse team, acting on your own initiative where appropriate 
• the ability to be on your feet for several hours at a time.

What support will I get?

This fun and fulfilling volunteer role will give you the opportunity to make a positive impact on our patients during their time in hospital as well as developing your own skills.

At every step, we’ll provide lots of support to help you in your volunteer role. You’ll have a member of hospital staff as your main contact as well as extra support from the volunteering team at your hospital. We’ll give you the chance to take part in additional training to further develop your skills and we’ll say thank you for all your fantastic efforts through our volunteering awards and regular newsletter. We’ll also reimburse you for your travel and food and drink costs during your volunteer shift. And with your permission, we'll give your dog doggy treats.

How to apply

Before you apply for this role, you’ll need to make sure your dog is formally registered as a trained therapy dog. This helps us ensure your dog has the right temperament to visit patients in a clinical environment. 

You’ll need to confirm that your dog has passed a therapy dog assessment with an approved provider. When you apply, we’ll ask you to show us a certificate from one of the following accrediting organisations:

• Therapy Dogs Nationwide
• Mayhew (Therapaws)
• Pets as Therapy

One more thing to remember. You’ll need to complete a DBS check to volunteer with us. Click the button below to find all the information you need.

Support with your DBS check

When you’re ready to apply, click the ‘Apply Now’ button below to get started.

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