Volunteer role

Volunteer Coordinator 

About Oscar’s Wish Foundation:

Oscar’s Wish Foundation was founded in 2015 and provides comfort and support to parents, birthing people and siblings following the loss of a baby or babies before, during or shortly after birth (Miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death).

We are working all over Sussex offering Bereavement Support, Specialist Bereavement Counselling and Support Programmes for Mums and Dads, birthing people and siblings. 

We are working alongside the Brighton Sussex and University Hospitals in Sussex to provide resources and support as well as creating gentle, calm spaces for families to spend time with their baby/ies within their hospitals. We have undertaken a number of refurbishment projects across the Early Pregnancy Units and Labour Ward to date.

We are offering our resources to schools, childcare settings and nurseries to better support siblings after the loss of a baby brother or sister. We also have dedicated online support and monthly face to face support at our coffee mornings.

We host a number of memorial events throughout the year which give an opportunity for our community to unite and come together in support of one another. We also plan and host a number of fundraising events to. These vary from annual fundraising events to one of themed fun fundraisers. All of which contribute to the financial income to run Oscar’s Wish Foundation and our projects.

Aims of this role:

• Be the main point of contact for all volunteers
• Coordinate information for the volunteers and distribute accordingly

How does this role support the charity:  

This role is crucial to the running and growth of the charity.

Tasks and responsibilities:

Your tasks and responsibilities will vary depending on ability and interest but could include (but not be limited to):

• Organise a team of volunteers and support the aims of the charity
• Act as a key contact and ambassador for volunteers, supporting them in their roles
• Attend regular meetings and be a conduit for information from Trustees / working groups to all volunteers
• Support in volunteer recruitment and induction              

This role will suit people who have:

• Good communication skills and are comfortable meeting with potential donors to ask for donations for the charity/ event/ fundraiser
• Flexibility and can change priority as needed

• An understanding of the intricacies of how OWF runs and be able the answer questions regarding our charities aims and policies, and procedures 

• Good networking skills and connections in the community or ability to start

• Creative ideas and plans to generate resources 

• The ability to work with all kinds of different people

What can we do for you?

• You will be joining a team of committed volunteers with lots of experience to share and support each other
• Learn new skills and make new friends
• Bring comfort and support to members of our community who are going through an incredibly difficult period of their lives

• Expenses can be claimed for travel and out of pocket expenses relating to the work of the charity (i.e. buying biscuits for the volunteer meeting)
• Out of pocket expenses must be agreed with the volunteer manager in advance wherever possible

Who this role will report to:

• This role will report to the Trustees (also a voluntary role) or other nominated member of the team

Changes to the role

• Reasonable change to the role can be requested to the Volunteer Coordinator (or other nominated member of the team)

• Notice of 30 days will be given to all volunteers should the role profile need to change

Expectations of volunteers

• Have enthusiasm and passion for the mission and vision of our charity 
• Be able to dedicate time to meetings and team projects (timetable and regularity of these can be provided)
• A reputation for integrity, the ability to keep commitments, and willingness to learn 
• Have good communication skills to communicate with the committee, trustees and the rest of the team
• Work well as part of a team and be willing to speak their mind in a way that is polite and respects others that have different ideas and opinions
• Recognise that being a Volunteer (no matter what role you have) is an important role that has specific responsibilities
• Give a reasonable amount of notice should you no longer wish to volunteer with the charity

How to find out more:

If you would like to find out more please contact oscarswishfoundation@gmail.com and someone will be in touch