Salary: £16,200 based on 22.5 hours per week per week (FTE (£27,000)
Hours: 22.5 hours per week - Mon to Fri (Occasional Weekends) - Exact days and hours are flexible and can be agreed with the post holder.
Location: Russell House, Huddersfield
Responsible to: Family Services Manager
Responsible for: Activities Coordinator and Volunteers
Benefits: Entry into Peoples Pension, death in service benefit (3 x salary), out of pocket expenses, free on-site parking, free access to confidential and extensive wellbeing support, generous holiday entitlement (26 days plus bank holidays rising to 31 days after 5 years for a full time employee, pro rata for part time), your birthday off, free tea / coffee, sight tests and flu jabs and excellent learning and development opportunities.
OVERVIEW OF ROLE
Are you passionate about making a difference in the lives of children, young people, and families?
As our Volunteer and Activity Lead, you will have two key areas of responsibility: leading our Care and Family Support Volunteer Team, and developing and delivering engaging activity programs for children, young people, and their familiesheavily supported by your team of volunteers.
This isnt just about keeping children busyyour activities will create meaningful experiences and lasting memories. Youll also support volunteers to grow their skills, confidence, and experience, helping them make a real impact in the hospice sector.
Youll be experienced in leading volunteers and delivering activities for children or families, ideally in health, social care, or community settings. Youll build partnerships with colleagues, families, and local organisations to deliver inclusive, creative, and flexible opportunities.
We welcome applications from everyone, especially those experienced in working with families from diverse cultural, ethnic, and faith backgrounds. Understanding how cultural, religious, or spiritual beliefs influence participation and care is essential. Additional community languages are highly desirable and support our commitment to accessible, inclusive care.
In this role, youll be at the heart of creating joyful, meaningful experiences for families while leading and inspiring a team of dedicated volunteers. If youre ready to make a lasting difference, we would love to hear from you
For an informal chat about the role, please contact Vicky Bruce
JOB DESCRIPTION
Role Summary
At Forget Me Not Childrens Hospice, our vision is to deliver pioneering care through pregnancy, childhood, and loss - whenever families need us, whatever the future holds.
In this role, youll develop and co-ordinate engaging and fun activities that create memorable, inspiring and transformative experiences for children with life-shortening conditions, siblings and their families moments that matter.
Youll also lead a team of volunteers not just for activities but across our care and family support services, ensuring volunteers are available to increase our capacity to support families so that they can fully engage in everything our childrens hospice has to offer.
Main Duties and Key Responsibilities
Activities planning & delivery
* Lead the design and coordination of child and family activities that are innovative, engaging, and memorable, turning ordinary activities into extraordinary experiences.
* Ensure activities are age-appropriate, inclusive, and therapeutic, including play, music, sports, arts and crafts, themed experience days, and immersive events.
* Co-produce activities wherever possible, ensuring families voices shape experiences that are meaningful to them.
* Organise seasonal events (e.g., Christmas parties, summer fairs) and special visits (e.g., entertainers, therapy animals) designed to delight, inspire, and create lasting memories.
* Create opportunities for siblings and parents to participate in shared experiences that strengthen family bonds.
* Oversee the quality, safety, and impact of all activities, ensuring they meet families needs and deliver unforgettable experiences.
* Gather feedback and evaluate outcomes to continually enhance the impact of our support.
Line management
- Supervise, support, and develop the activity co-ordinator, providing guidance, coaching, and regular performance feedback.
- Encourage reflective practice, creativity, and innovation within the team to enhance family experiences.
Volunteer co-ordination
- Recruit, train, and support a diverse team of volunteers who contribute to activity delivery, care and family support as well as volunteer-led transport.
- Work collaboratively with the registered manager and family support team leader to ensure care teams are fully engaged with, and supportive of, the vision for embedding volunteers within our support.
- Ensure volunteers understand their role in providing care, compassion, and practical support that enables families to thrive.
- In collaboration with HR, maintain accurate volunteer records, including DBS checks, training, and compliance with hospice policies.
- Provide inductions, ongoing support, guidance, and recognition to enhance volunteer retention and engagement.
- Organise volunteer support to support the activity programme, as well as volunteer support within care, family support and volunteer led transport.
- Develop pathways for volunteer development and progression.
- Support volunteers and managers in navigating the volunteer management system, providing guidance and reporting as required.
Safeguarding & risk management
- Ensure all activities and volunteer interactions are safe, boundaried, and compliant with hospice policies.
- Maintain high standards of health, safety, and safeguarding for children, families, and volunteers.
Partnership and engagement
- Build relationships with local groups and organisations to enrich activity content and grow volunteer networks.
- Collaborate with the marketing team to share stories, raise awareness of activities, and promote volunteering opportunities.
We expect all staff to undertake any other duties within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job, the title of the post and its grading, as requested by your line manager or their higher level of authority on behalf of the charity.
To find out more about working for Forget Me Not Children's Hospice please see our recruitment pack
For all of our roles we expect employees to abide by the expectations set out within the Together for Families Framework (click here). Complying with Together for Families means that we will all act with integrity to ensure we are trusted the people we care for, the people we work with and everyone who supports Forget Me Not.
Person specification
Skills and experience
Essential
* Experience of planning and co-ordinating inclusive, and meaningful events or activities (preferably for children, young people, or families).
* Experience of leading or supervising staff or volunteers.
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to inspire and support others.
* Strong organisational and problem-solving skills.
* IT literate, with experience using Microsoft Office.
* Ability to work flexibly, including occasional evenings and weekends.
* Full clean driving licence and access to a vehicle.
Desirable
* Experience working in a hospice, care, or community support setting.
* Qualification in event management, volunteer co-ordination, or family support.
* Experience in transport co-ordination or managing practical family access arrangements.
* Knowledge of safeguarding, inclusive practice, and health and safety in activity delivery.
Additional Requirements
* Commitment to the values and ethos of Forget Me Not Childrens Hospice.
* Willingness to complete mandatory training and professional development.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Equality and Diversity
Please note that we are committed to equality and diversity and make the following pledge in relation to our recruitment practices;
* We will actively encourage and support under-represented groups to join us as employees
* We will always interview you if you are an applicant with disability who meets the essential requirements of the job and will provide adjustments to the recruitment process if required.
* We are committed to supporting part time and flexible working; we will consider part time working requests for all our roles
Please click here to view our full equality, diversity and inclusion pledge