By Your Side volunteers at Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Evelina Hospital

We’re on the lookout for volunteers to help our By Your Side team provide advice and information to families with children at Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Evelina Hospital.

Contact's By Your Side hospitals team

About Contact

Contact is a national charity for families with disabled children. We provide information, advice and support, and bring families together so they can support each other. We campaign to improve their circumstances, and for their right to be included and equal in society.

About the role

Having a child in hospital can be overwhelmingly stressful for parent carers. As well as emotional strain, families often face a raft of practical challenges and left feeling confused by the medical system and unsure where to turn for help. They can also struggle under increased financial pressure as they reduce work hours to spend more time with their child.

Contact’s By Your Side team currently offer support in five UK hospitals to any family who have a child with health needs, guiding them through the maze of medical departments and jargon they face and discussing any issues or challenges they face, for example around benefits, education, social care or how to find local support groups for example. Families are free to drop in with no appointment needed, and ward visits are also possible if that suits the family better.

We now have an opportunity for volunteers to support our Parent Advises at Great Ormond Street Hospital on Thursdays in term time and the Evelina Hospital on Mondays during term time, between 9am-2pm.

Sounds like something you might be interested in?

Please get in touch with Ruth Stone, Senior Parent Adviser in our By Your Side team for more information about this exciting voluntary role by emailing [email protected]