Helen & Douglas House is a registered charity based in Oxford. It comprises of two houses, set in the same grounds, offering respite and end of life care to children (from birth to 16) and young adults (aged 16-35) with life-shortening conditions, and support for the whole family.

Helen House was the first children’s hospice, founded by Sister Frances Dominica in 1982, followed by Douglas House, the world’s first young adult’s hospice, in 2004.

The majority of funding for the two houses is supplied by voluntary donations.

In addition to employing professional staff, volunteers with a wide range of skills and from all walks of life play a vital role in the running of the charity. Most of us think of volunteering as a few hours spent in a local charity shop, serving food to the needy, or giving time to a local community project.

However, the current economic climate has highlighted that volunteering can also offer people the chance to learn new skills.

“Helen & Douglas House realise that it should always be a two-way process, that will benefit not only the charity, but also the volunteer. There are many professional, qualified and talented people that have time to give, who are looking for longer structured periods of volunteering where they can use their skills.

"Whether that be a recent graduate, a person taking a planned break from work, perhaps to raise a family, or someone who is between jobs and wants to maintain their CV,” says Wendy Bridge, volunteer development officer at Helen & Douglas House. So a programme of unpaid internships has been developed.

These are specific projects with a clear timeframe of anything from three to 12 months. The programmes are flexibly designed, so that people can choose when they work on the project to fit in with their other commitments.

“The intention is that the internships will offer people the opportunity to not only use their current skills, but to further extend them in an environment they may never have considered before.

"At the same time, Helen & Douglas House will be able to move forward on projects that they would otherwise not have the resource for,” she added.

Vicky Bond-Jones, HR assistant at Helen & Douglas House, said: “The internships will be in a number of different areas, such as fundraising, PR and communications and e-commerce; with many more to come. The roles are all advertised on our website, where you can find more information about the specific opportunities.”

Contact Ms Bond-Jones on 01865 794749, or email her on vbond-jones@helenanddouglas.org.uk.

To learn more go to www.helenanddouglas.org.uk