Smiles 4 Miles - Children's Palliative Care Volunteer

Smiles 4 Miles is a non-for-profit organisation that works with children facing life threatening and terminal illnesses. Our mission is to bring smiles to the faces of these children, to ensure that the last chapter of their lives are filled with happiness, fun and smiles.

We achieve this through a vast range of activities that are suited to the individual needs of the children, accounting for their age, cognitive levels, mobility functions and medical needs. Some examples of our activities include slime making, awesome science experiments (like rainbow explosions), playing with sensory toys, painting, making sentimental artwork pieces for loved ones, jewellery design and many more. We run programs in paediatric palliative care hospices/ paediatric end of life centres, with our main one being Very Special Kids in Malvern. Many of the children we work with are non-verbal, have very limited mobility skills and have severe cognitive impairment. However, students volunteering at Smiles 4 Miles have the opportunity to develop valuable skills in communicating and engaging with these children, while ensuring a fun and positive environment.

The role

ACU students will attend programs at Very Special Kids and engage with children through a vast range of fun activities.

Students will assist in running the activities during the program and help children whose specific needs may pose them with challenges when performing various activities. This may include holding a child's hand to help them mix their slime or assisting children to pour ingredients into their science experiment.

Students are also expected to ensure a fun and positive environment to bring smiles to the faces of these children. Volunteer sessions will be done in groups (ACU students will be working together with the same children).