Our volunteers truly make a difference to the lives of people across east Kent who are living with incurable illness.

Why volunteer for Pilgrims?

People are inspired and motivated to support us for lots of reasons. Many of our volunteers have personal experience of the palliative care and support we offer to patients and their families; some have a special interest or skill that makes a valuable contribution to Pilgrims. Volunteering can also help you to gain new skills in an area you’ve always wanted to develop.

Based on a survey completed in 2022 asking over 1,000 volunteers
about their experience at Pilgrims Hospices...

%
felt proud to volunteer for Pilgrims, and the same percentage said they would be happy
to recommend our charity for its standard of care.
%
of volunteers felt they were making a difference.

Some of our largest volunteer teams are within our fundraising and retail departments:

Our fundraising volunteers support Pilgrims in a broad range of roles. From event marshalling and running fundraising stalls at Pilgrims events, to collecting money at supermarkets or fundraising and raising awareness in the community. We also require volunteers to help serve delicious treats or help to set up and move event equipment at Pilgrims-led events.

If you have creative flair, you could be a volunteer event photographer or videographer. You could also support us with press, publicity and marketing. There’s something for everyone!

Get inspired by checking out our full range of events or contact [email protected].

More than 800 people currently volunteer in our 30 shops and e-commerce sites across east Kent. They help to raise much-needed funds so that we can provide high-quality care and support to our patients and their families.

If you love meeting new people, have good communication skills and want to give back to your local community, volunteering at a Pilgrims shop could be the perfect role for you.

I’d recommend volunteering for Pilgrims because they’re a caring organisation; they listen to people and will give you the support you need to become a confident volunteer.

Paul, Hythe shop volunteer

As a shop volunteer, you can be involved with a range of tasks, including:

  • Sorting donations
  • Steaming clothes
  • Serving customers on the shop floor and at the tills
  • Merchandising stock in the shop, including visual merchandising
  • PAT testing donated electrical goods
  • Ensuring the shop floor and back area are kept clean and tidy
  • Promoting the work of Pilgrims Hospices within the local community

Full training is provided and there are lots of other benefits, too.

We may be able to provide a reference (subject to qualifying period and satisfactory attendance).

Free tea, coffee and biscuits are always available!

To find out more, contact your local shop or check out our latest shop volunteering opportunities.

As a Pilgrims volunteer, you'll feel valued, gain new skills, and build confidence. We have a variety of roles available and are always looking for additional talented and motivated people to join our volunteer team.

We would love to hear from you!

Volunteer vacancies

How to apply for a volunteer role

To apply for a volunteer role with Pilgrims, please download and complete an application form below and send it to the relevant email address included on the volunteer opportunity listing.

For volunteer roles in Pilgrims Hospices shops, please drop your completed volunteer application form into the shop in person.

Click below to see full details about our current volunteer opportunities.

As part of the recruitment process, Pilgrims Hospices collects and processes personal data relating to volunteer applicants. Pilgrims Hospices is committed to acting in a transparent manner at all times in relation to how it collects data and for what purposes, and will not retain the data of unsuccessful applicants for more than 6 months.

More information is available in our Privacy Policy.

With posts that are subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975, 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.