Bereavement Café Volunteer - Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library

Bereavement is something that can affect a person at any stage of their life. Norfolk Library and Information Service have set up a series of regular ‘Bereavement cafes’ which will create a space for people who have been bereaved to come together.

The focus is not on offering bereavement counselling as there are many excellent services which already offer in-depth support. The aim of a bereavement café is to provide a friendly space where customers can sit and talk and find new connections with others; who they know will have also experienced the death of someone close to them. There is no right or wrong topic of conversation. People may choose to talk about the weather, gardening or what they have been reading. If they wish to talk more openly about the person they are missing, that is also fine.

The role of the volunteer will be to welcome people to the space and make them feel comfortable.  Volunteers will be provided with details of local organisations who can help with counselling or more bespoke support if an attendee feels this is something they would like to access.

A Bereavement café will meet on a regular basis, normally weekly. Volunteers will be asked to give an hour of their time to support people attending the sessions to get the most from them. Volunteers will welcome people to the group and explain the aims of the sessions. They will help with queries and when possible with preparing cups of tea. The volunteer will be a link between the participants at the sessions and the staff members in the library.

Volunteers will need to:

• Have a sensitive manner
• Be keen to support others to rebuild social connections they may have lost
• Have good listening skills
• Be patient
• Be able to attend the library on a weekly basis

The session at the Millennium Library will have a member of staff who facilitates it but volunteers will help with making people welcome and smaller group conversation as required during the sessions.