Celebrating Volunteers’ Week 2026

1-7 June 2026 is Volunteers’ Week, an annual UK-wide celebration to recognise the incredible contribution that volunteers make to communities and organisations.

Running for over 40 years, Volunteers’ Week provides us with an opportunity to thank our volunteers and recognise the value of their time, passion and skills. At Dorothy House, volunteers are at the heart of everything we do – in fact, 50 years ago the Hospice was founded by a small group of volunteers. Now, with over 1,300 volunteers as part of our workforce in over 60 different roles, they continue to play a crucial role in our work. Without their contributions, we simply could not deliver our services to the people in our community.

How Dorothy House is celebrating Volunteers’ Week

We have lots of exciting activities going on for our volunteers to get involved in throughout the week, including tours of the Hospice and grounds on Tuesday 2 June and Wednesday 3 June. We’ll be hosting a Bingo social evening at the Hospice on Wednesday, as well as a Volunteer Connect session at Calne Town Hall on Friday 5 June, giving volunteers from across the organisation a chance to meet and chat.

Get involved

Volunteers’ Week is also a time where we showcase the variety of roles available across the organisation, giving people in our community a chance to get involved. We’ll be running a Volunteer Open Day at the Hospice on Monday 1 June, a free drop-in session from 2.30pm to 8pm. Attendees are welcome to come along at any time, or there’s the chance to join us for a short presentation at 3pm and 7pm. We’ll have refreshments on hand, and there will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions and chat to our Volunteer Services team.

The Big Help Out – Retail Community Open Day

On Monday 8 June, we will also be running a community open day at our Devizes Superstore as part of The Big Help Out, a national initiative that encourages people to have a go at volunteering, support their community, and make a difference. Open from 10am to 4pm, the event will showcase our Retail and community volunteering opportunities and will feature mannequin dressing and the opportunity to learn hand massage!

Bring what you love: Give back by volunteering

Of course, it’s not Volunteers’ Week without hearing from the stars of the show. All week on our social media channels, we’ll be hearing from our volunteers themselves about their roles. Our incredible Retail volunteers also feature in our latest recruitment campaign, which celebrates their individual passions and interests that they bring to the shop teams:

Joanne loves walking with her dog, Buster, and started volunteering in our Chippenham Furniture shop. She loved it so much she switched to a role as a paid Deputy Mobile Manager!

Nigel uses his skills as a retired engineer to PAT test electrical items at our Chippenham Furniture shop. He shares his lifelong love and passion for music in the form a monthly fundraiser for Dorothy House at local pub, The Waverley.

Wren is studying English and drama at school and volunteers as part of her Duke of Edinburgh Award. She loves chatting to our customers and adds plenty of creative flair to our window displays.

It’s not just our Retail teams that our wonderful volunteers support, either. In addition to roles that support across our 30 charity shops, we have opportunities both here at the Hospice in Winsley and out in the community. Whether it’s helping to ensure our fundraising events run smoothly or providing companionship and a listening ear to patients and carers, there’s something for everyone.  

Volunteers’ Week – the perfect time to say thank you!

Finding the right words to say thank you can be difficult, but that’s where My Thank You can help. If you know a Dorothy House volunteer who has gone above and beyond – whether at the Hospice, out in the community or in one of our shops – you can let them know how much they’re appreciated in just a few minutes.

Simply head over to the My Thank You website to send your message of thanks – it’s quick, free and easy to do, but it’ll mean so much.

Our volunteers are an integral part of our workforce. Without them, we would not be able to provide compassionate, personalised care, for free, to our community. Join us this week in celebrating the difference they make, and most importantly, saying thank you.

Unable to make our community events? Find out more about volunteering with us here or get in touch with our friendly team. Email volunteer@dorothyhouse-hospice.org.uk.