Job Title: Bereavement Support Volunteer
Location: Salisbury Hospice / Travel required
Hours: 3 to 5 hours a week
Reporting to: Family Support Team Lead
Closing date: 31st October 2025

Join Our Team as a Bereavement Support Volunteer

Offer comfort, understanding, and a listening ear to people coping with loss. As a Bereavement Support Volunteer, you’ll help individuals feel less alone and supported through one of life’s most difficult times. Your compassion can make a real difference.

Job Purpose

To provide compassionate emotional support to individuals and families experiencing grief and loss, helping them feel heard, understood, and less alone during a difficult time.

Key Responsibilities

• Salisbury Palliative Care Services offer bereavement support to all relatives and those close to people who have died under our care.
• This is a confidential service, allowing people to talk about and process their grief.
• The bereavement service is co-ordinated by the Social Workers in the Family Support Team (FST).
• Bereavement Support Volunteers (BSVs) are carefully selected, trained, and supervised by the Social Workers in the FST.
• Support is offered face-to-face or by telephone, depending on the client’s preference. Each session usually lasts around an hour, either in the client’s home or at the hospice.
  The initial training is 60 hours, delivered over 20 half-day sessions.
• All BSVs are required to keep notes and attend a monthly group supervision session.
• Salisbury Hospice serves a wide catchment area, covering Whiteparish, Landford, and Fordingbridge to Ringwood in the south; Winterslow, Tidworth, and Ludgershall to the east; Amesbury, Netheravon, Shrewton, and Codford to the north; and Wilton, Tisbury, Mere, and Sixpenny Handley to the west — as well as all villages in between.
• Volunteers can claim mileage, and we also aim to match clients to volunteers based on geographical location.
• We are seeking a commitment of 3 to 5 hours a week.

Person Specification

• Due to the emotionally challenging nature of the work, we ask that applicants wait at least two years after experiencing a significant bereavement before applying.
• Recruitment involves a formal process of application, shortlisting, and interview.
• Following a successful interview, references will be taken, and an Enhanced DBS check will be required before the role is offered.
• The training programme provides volunteers with the knowledge and skills needed for the role, and also helps assess suitability for the work.

  How to Apply

f you would like to apply for this role, please complete the online application form [here].

Alternatively, contact the Salisbury Hospice Family Support Team on 01722 425113 to request a paper application form.

Closing date: 31st October 2025

Salisbury Hospice is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all backgrounds.