Volunteering with Palliative Care ACT’s Life Stories program is a unique and deeply meaningful way to help people reflect on, record, and preserve the stories that matter most to them. This service is available to clients already receiving support from Palliative Care ACT and is offered through donations and occasional sponsorship.
As a Life Stories volunteer, you are carefully matched with a client living with a life-limiting illness who wishes to document their life, or a particular chapter of it in their own words. Your role is to listen, guide gently, and record their story exactly as they want it told.
After an initial conversation with the Life Stories Coordinator, you visit the client for around an hour each week (or as otherwise agreed), usually over a period of up to ten weeks. During these visits, you create a safe and respectful space for storytelling, allowing the client to share memories, experiences, reflections, and messages at their own pace.
Between visits, you transcribe the recordings so the client can review and make any changes. This collaborative process ensures the final story truly reflects their voice, values, and wishes.
Once the story is complete, the client receives a beautifully presented printed copy to share with family and friends. For many, this becomes a treasured legacy, a way to be remembered, understood, and celebrated.
Life Stories volunteering is about more than writing. It’s about honouring a person’s life, listening with care, and helping create something lasting that brings comfort, pride, and connection to both the client and their loved ones.
How to get involved
Getting started is simple:
- Complete a quick application form here
- Attend a pre-training interview
- Take part in our volunteer training course
- Begin volunteering with supported “buddy shifts” alongside experienced volunteers
If you’re looking for a way to give back that is truly impactful, volunteering with Palliative Care ACT offers the chance to make a lasting difference for others, and for yourself.
“It’s the tangibles and the relationships you establish, and the connections you make to people, that is the really rewarding thing” – Sarah, volunteer.
