Customer Story: St Luke's Hospice

• Time savings: The automated, paperless processes have drastically reduced the time spent on administrative tasks, allowing Chris to focus on building relationships with volunteers and adding value elsewhere across the organisation, in her role.
• Improved recruitment: Recruitment is now streamlined and easy to manage, with all volunteer information stored in one place and visible in real-time.
• Better volunteer engagement: With features like quick messaging, newsletters, and events, volunteer participation and communication have significantly improved.
• Increased flexibility: Chris can post news and updates instantly, keeping volunteers up-to-date with hospice activities.
• Supportive onboarding: Access Assemble’s customer success team provided a seamless onboarding experience and continues to offer excellent support.

About St Luke’s Hospice

We are a local charity providing compassionate care to people whose illnesses are no longer curable. We promote dignity in dying and empower people to make the choices they want, from the moment they are diagnosed.

Our care considers people’s medical, spiritual and emotional needs, including support for loved ones and carers. Anyone living in Basildon and Thurrock can call on us 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Working alongside other healthcare providers, our specialist services are available at the hospice, out in the community or in a person’s place of residence. Together, we fulfil people’s choices at the end of their life.

We are a charity and the services we provide are free. We rely on voluntary income from local people to deliver the care they deserve.

“Most people think of hospices as places where people go to die,” says Chris Bartell, Volunteer Coordinator at St Luke’s Hospice. “While that’s true, there’s so much more to what we do to support our community with their medical, spiritual and emotional needs if they access our services”.
 
Volunteers are central to the hospice’s work, but like many charities, managing them effectively was a challenge. Post-pandemic, St Luke's Hospice needed a better way to streamline operations, recruit more efficiently, and enhance volunteer engagement. That’s when they turned to Access Assemble.

The challenge before Access Assemble

When Chris joined St Luke’s Hospice in 2021, the hospice was just beginning to reintegrate its volunteers after COVID-19. However, the volunteer records were fragmented and stored in outdated systems. “Our database wasn’t fit for purpose anymore. I found it easier to start from scratch,” explains Chris.
 
Chris, working alone to manage the hospice's volunteers, faced the enormous task of consolidating all the data and re-engaging with the volunteers. The outdated system not only made recruitment difficult but also delayed communication. “I was keeping everything on Excel spreadsheets, which isn’t ideal,” says Chris.

Why Access Assemble?

With limited resources and a growing volunteer base, St Luke’s Hospice needed a system that could do it all. After researching various platforms, Chris found that Access Assemble offered everything they were looking for. “We looked at four different volunteer management systems, but nothing compared to what Assemble offered. It’s intuitive, easy to use, and absolutely value for money,” Chris notes.

Managing hundreds of volunteers, Chris needed something that would save time while improving engagement. “The paperless system has been a game-changer. It’s made it so much easier to manage recruitment and keep in touch with volunteers. Everything is in one place, which makes my life significantly easier.”

The impact of Access Assemble

Since implementing Access Assemble, St Luke’s Hospice has seen dramatic improvements in how they manage their volunteers. The platform has streamlined recruitment and core operational processes, allowing Chris to focus on building personal relationships with volunteers instead of being bogged down with paperwork.

1. Time savings

The automated and paperless processes within Assemble have drastically reduced the time spent on administrative tasks. "Everything is in one place, and it's easy to use. No paper lying around," Chris says. This has allowed her to shift her focus from paperwork to more meaningful activities, like spending time engaging with volunteers and enhancing their experience.

2. Improved recruitment

Recruitment is now fully streamlined, making it easier to manage all volunteer information in one centralised system. Chris notes, "I can see where every volunteer is in the recruitment process, and even target people who haven’t logged in to ensure they are engaged." The system also allows Chris to tailor her meetings and communications based on each volunteer’s activity, making the process more personalised and efficient.

3. Better volunteer engagement

With features like quick messaging, newsletters, and event management, volunteer participation and communication have significantly improved. Volunteers are more engaged with what’s happening at the hospice, and Chris can quickly keep them up-to-date with any news or upcoming events. “It takes me just a couple of minutes to post something, and the volunteers see it instantly,” Chris shares.

Assemble has also proven invaluable for organising events, such as St Luke’s Hospice annual volunteer thank-you event. “I organised the Volunteer Thank You event during Volunteers’ Week in June and Assemble made it so easy to manage RSVPs and track attendance,” Chris explains. “It’s made event management a breeze and allowed us to increase participation at appreciation events.”

4. Easy data reporting

Another significant advantage of Access Assemble is the ability to pull up real-time reports on volunteer activity, recruitment, and engagement. This feature has made it much easier for Chris to report to senior management and governance bodies. "I can simply screenshot the report and send it to my manager or governance committee. They don’t have access to the system, but this makes sharing data quick and easy," Chris explains. With Assemble, reporting has become more visual, clear, and accessible, which is particularly helpful when dealing with time-sensitive information or larger meetings.

Excellent support 

The support from the Access Assemble team has been another highlight of the implementation process. “The onboarding experience was fantastic. Our contact, Alexandra, was great—always available to answer questions and really supportive throughout the process,” Chris recalls.
 
The system was implemented over the Christmas period, a notoriously quiet time, which allowed Chris to prepare everything before the official launch in April. “Access even worked with us to ensure the payment for the system came out of our new financial year, which was a huge help,” says Chris.
 
Since then, the ongoing support has been excellent. “The technical backup has been really good. If I’ve had any queries, the team is quick to respond and really helpful.”

Advice for other charities

Chris offers some valuable advice for other charities thinking of adopting Assemble. “It does take a bit of time to get everyone used to it, but once volunteers log in and see the benefits, it really snowballs,” she explains. “I held open sessions for volunteers to introduce them to Assemble, and that worked really well. It’s important to take the time to show people why it’s valuable and how to use it.”
 
She adds, “You have to invest the time to make it work, but the rewards are huge. The platform saves so much time, and it allows you to focus on what matters most—your volunteers.”

Take the next step with Assemble

For St Luke's Hospice, Access Assemble has been a transformative tool. If your charity is looking to streamline volunteer management, improve engagement, and save time, Access Assemble could be the solution you need. "It’s the most comprehensive system we looked at, and the value for money is fantastic," Chris concludes.