We are celebrating the wonderful work of our volunteers, this Volunteers Week!

27/05/2023

During Volunteers Week (1st - 7th June) we celebrate the incredible work of all our wonderful volunteers who work so hard behind the scenes to bring comfort and support to bereaved families that go through pregnancy and baby loss. 

Our volunteers work in the community to build relationships with their local hospital and lovingly prepare our bears and deliver them to hospitals across the UK. We literally couldn’t do it without them.

As Aching Arms is run by a small team of staff, we are always grateful for volunteer support. Not only does this help our charity, but our volunteers also get an awful lot out of helping us in this way.

‘My role is to prepare each bear in memory of a child and package them for another family who need the comfort these bears provide. I prepare each bear lovingly as each one is special, with the name of a baby who is dearly loved and very much missed. I enjoy volunteering for Aching Arms as it gives me the time to reflect on our journey and I know that my role makes other bereaved parents feel less alone. I feel proud to call myself an Aching Arms volunteer.’

We have many different volunteer roles at Aching Arms, from hospital and postal volunteers, who prepare bears and deliver or post bears out, to our board of trustees who help with the governance and the strategic direction of the charity. 

You can find out more about our different roles here.

If you'd like to learn more about what it means to volunteer at Aching Arms, we have shared the stories of some of our amazing volunteers below.

Valerie and Margaret, are hospital volunteers in Kent, and have been involved with Aching Arms right from the start. 

Meet Raven, one of our postal volunteers, who became involved with Aching Arms after the loss of her daughter. 

Jess started volunteering with us after the loss of her son Leo as a hospital volunteer, Jess is now a postal volunteer. 

Meet Sharmila, one of our hospital volunteers in Wales. 

Zoe and Andrew become hospitals volunteers after losing their precious son, Zachary in 2018.  

Tom Donaldson is one of our Supporting Arms for Dads volunteers and also the writer of "You are a Dad...you always will be" - A guide for Dads following the loss of your baby.

Meet Lynne, who become involved in Aching Arms following the loss of her baby Findlay in 2013. 

Kay volunteers her time across a number of London Hospitals, preparing and delivering bears.

This week, let's hear it for our incredible volunteers, and their amazing contributions to Aching Arms. Thank you so much! 

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