In researching organisations that filled that criteria, I discovered the palliative care program at Calvary Hospital, Kogarah. The program ticked many boxes. Volunteers are not a disconnected part of the health care team who work in the palliative program; we work directly with people who are facing the end of their lives; the palliative care ethos is to treat the whole person, not just the disease and the work load is no more than the volunteer can cope with.

I was reassured to know that no-one is connected to a patient without undergoing thorough training and that a lot of thought is given by the volunteer manager to the placement of volunteer and patient before contact is made.

I have been visiting home-based palliative care patients for two years. I offer foot or hand massage – something I had no experience with, but the volunteer program gave me the skills and confidence to try, – sometimes there is a lot of talking, but mostly I just need to listen. Regardless of the length of time of the visits, I have always come away feeling that I have learned so much from the experience; listening to their life stories, enhances my life.