Child Wellbeing and Play Support Advisor- remote

Seeking an experienced advisor (3+ years in education, social care, counselling, or play therapy) to support our hospital teachers. Provide expert guidance on play-based emotional support, trauma-informed practice, and child wellbeing in medical settings.

What difference will you make?

The Child Wellbeing and Play Support Advisor will have a significant impact on our organisation by building the professional capacity of our hospital teaching team. While our teachers are compassionate and experienced educators, they have not had specialist training in child emotional wellbeing, therapeutic play, or trauma-informed practice. Your expertise will bridge this gap, strengthening the way we support children facing long-term hospitalisation.

By providing professional advice and coaching, you will help our staff develop clearer frameworks for recognising distress, managing emotional moments, and using play in purposeful, therapeutic ways. This will directly improve the quality of care and education we provide. Teachers will feel more confident preparing children for medical procedures, creating predictable routines, and responding sensitively to emotional cues—skills that will benefit every child we work with.

Your support also contributes to organisational development. With your insight, we will be able to design more structured wellbeing routines, build training materials for new volunteers, and establish play-based strategies that reflect best practices in social care, therapeutic play, and children's emotional health. This strengthens the long-term sustainability and professionalism of our programme as we expand to more hospitals.

Your expertise will elevate our organisation's overall capacity, ensuring that our emotional-support practices are grounded in professional knowledge rather than goodwill alone. This helps us better meet the needs of vulnerable children who may be frightened, isolated, or coping with significant medical trauma.

Ultimately, your role empowers us to offer children genuine comfort, emotional safety, and moments of joy during their hospital journey. Your contribution will make a lasting difference to the way our team works—and to the wellbeing of every child we support.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for a volunteer who brings warmth, empathy, and a genuine desire to support children facing challenging hospital experiences. The ideal person will have experience in one or more of the following areas play therapy, child psychology, emotional wellbeing, early childhood development, paediatric care, or therapeutic play in medical settings. However, we welcome applicants with broader experience supporting children's emotional needs, as long as they feel confident offering guidance to our team.

A key quality for this role is the ability to communicate clearly and kindly. Because your support will be remote, the way you explain ideas, offer suggestions, and guide our teachers will make a significant difference. We are looking for someone who can translate professional insight into practical, age-appropriate strategies that can be used in busy hospital wards with limited resources.

Equally important is a sensitivity to the emotional realities of children undergoing medical treatment. You should feel comfortable discussing issues such as anxiety, fear, withdrawal, or behavioural changes, and be able to help others understand how to respond with patience and reassurance. Experience working with children who have additional needs, trauma backgrounds, or chronic illnesses would be especially valuable, though not essential.

We would also value someone who is flexible and understanding of the unpredictable nature of hospital environments. Our teachers often work around medical procedures, sudden changes in a child's mood, and the constraints of clinical spaces. A volunteer who can offer creative solutions and adapt ideas to different scenarios will be a wonderful fit.

Above all, we are looking for someone who cares deeply about children's emotional wellbeing and is willing to share their expertise to help us make hospital stays a little brighter, calmer, and more hopeful for the children we serve.

What will you be doing?

We are seeking an experienced volunteer to act as a Child Wellbeing and Play Support Advisor for our team of hospital-based teachers.

Children in our programme often face long hospital stays due to chronic illness, medical procedures, and physical and emotional stress. Our teachers provide learning continuity and comfort, but they are not specialists in therapeutic play or child emotional wellbeing. This volunteer role provides essential expert advice, coaching, and training to strengthen our team's ability to respond to children's needs.

In this advisory role, you will

• Offer professional guidance on using play, communication, and child-centred emotional support to reduce anxiety and distress.
• Provide mentoring and coaching to teachers and volunteers, helping them build confidence in supporting children with complex emotional needs.
• Help staff recognise early signs of distress, overwhelm, withdrawal, or procedural anxiety, and advise on appropriate responses.
• Suggest developmentally appropriate play strategies to prepare children for procedures (stories, visuals, role play, sensory supports).
• Recommend ways to create predictable routines, calm spaces, and comfort strategies suited to a hospital environment.
• Support our team to design simple emotional-support plans, distraction techniques, and play routines that bring comfort and agency to children.
• Provide advice on child-led communication, trauma-informed approaches, and building secure, trusting relationships on the ward.
• Contribute to improving our overall learning and wellbeing programme through your expertise.

This is an advisory-only role (no direct child contact). You will receive background information about each child's needs, environment, and challenges so your guidance can be personalised and practical. Your input will help us ensure that our play and wellbeing practices are safe, ethical, and anchored in professional standards.

The role is flexible, remote, and designed to fit your availability. You will collaborate with a small team who are open, reflective, and committed to improving the quality of emotional and educational support we provide to hospitalised children.

Your expertise will have a meaningful impact on the wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable children in our care.