Involving volunteers to shape our Someone Like Me service

Tell us about yourself

I'm Tom and I manage our Someone Like Me service here at Breast Cancer Now. I'm based in Sheffield and have worked with the charity for over 13 years.

Our Someone Like Me service matches people affected by primary breast cancer to trained volunteers who have been through something similar and had similar concerns. Someone Like Me has been supporting people for over 50 years and I am proud to be able to say that I have played a small part in providing the service to those who need it.

Someone Like Me began in 1973, when the great Betty Westgate, having had breast cancer herself, began sharing her experiences of surgery and treatment with others who had also been diagnosed. The service has grown over time and currently has over 350 volunteers, all with a unique experience of breast cancer. They're available to talk to over the phone or via email, sharing their experiences like Betty did all those years ago.

The service has always understood the value of sharing experiences. For this reason, it only seems right that we involve volunteers in shaping aspects of our work.

One of my favourite things about my role is seeing the people who used the service come back to us as volunteers; feeling like they are now ready and able to use their experiences to help others. It's always really nice when we see familiar names on our list of new volunteers, especially when it is someone I have spoken to myself.

How do you involve people in your work?

We’ve worked closely with our volunteers for a long time, and it’s been invaluable. We decided that we'd like to involve volunteers more and ensure that they have a voice in how the service is run.

Many of the volunteers who work with us have used the service themselves, so they understand how it feels to be on the other end of the phone. They all have a personal connection to breast cancer, and we've begun providing more opportunities for them to be involved in ways beyond their day-to-day role if they wish.

Some volunteers act as mentors for newer volunteers to support them as they begin their time with us and adjust to life as a volunteer. But they also now help us by co-hosting all of the training sessions we offer to new volunteers, sharing their experiences and giving a real insight into what it is like to be a Someone Like Me volunteer.

We also invite a volunteer to help us when we interview for new staff members. Our team work directly with people who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, so their insight and opinion on whether an applicant is able to do so with sensitively and empathically is particularly important and helpful.

And when we are considering making changes and improvements, we have started holding feedback sessions for volunteers. One example of this is hosting some focus groups on changes we wanted to make to volunteer training.

How have the volunteers shaped your training?

Last year, we held some focus groups with volunteers about our training to hear about how they found it, and anything they thought we should change.

It was extremely valuable and they could comment on, not just the training but their experience making calls: what has surprised them about the calls and what they have found harder. They reiterated how much they valued the input of other volunteers and told us about the topics that worried them as a newer volunteer, such as what to do if they were concerned about someone's wellbeing.

It was really interesting to hear their insight, and it helped us make practical changes to the training.

They also said they wanted to help us deliver the training and to stay involved. So many of the volunteers who joined the focus group now also help us facilitate the training sessions for new volunteers. They’re able to talk about their own experience and paint a true, realistic picture for the new volunteers who are considering joining. Hearing from a more experienced volunteer has always been the bit that people say they find the most helpful and it's great that this now happens throughout all the sessions.

What difference does it make having the volunteers involved in your work?

As staff, we have a lot of knowledge about Someone Like Me and you do learn a lot about breast cancer too. But we’re not volunteers. We’re not the ones making the calls and responding to emails. So, by involving the volunteers we gain an important insight that helps us to make better decisions and choices that will hopefully lead to a better service.

What have you learnt?

When we started running focus groups to hear people’s feedback, I was a bit worried that people might ask to make changes that we couldn't make or control. I didn’t want our volunteers to feel like we weren't listening because we could not do as they suggested.

But the feedback from out volunteers has always been very realistic, understanding and insightful. They understand that we’re sometimes limited in what we can do, and they appreciate that we’re trying to do our best.

I’m also always amazed at how much people want to get involved. Our volunteers are busy. They have full lives and other commitments. I was worried about asking too much of people, but they always want to help and are passionate about the service. And that’s inspiring for me. I think they’re brilliant, and I’m very grateful.