2 July 2025
Rimsha is 21 and Noah's Ark Children's Hospice's youngest Home Support Volunteer. She is proof that volunteering when you’re young can have real-world benefits, such as improved confidence and a life-long love of helping others.
Rimsha has been volunteering at Noah’s Ark as a Home Support and Family Activities Volunteer since October 2024. Her current match is with Joyce, aged 7, and Messiane, who is 12. Their brother Prodige, aged 16, has severe neurological damage and we have been supporting the family since 2010. Rimsha says: "I love the fact that you really get to know the family. I visit every two weeks and I really look forward to it. We’ve gotten to the point where we're really comfortable with each other and we’re all disappointed when the hour is up."
Girl's Time
The girls plan their precious hour with Rimsha carefully and start every session with ‘Girl Gossip’ where they go over what’s been happening in their lives - they also play a lot of Uno! It was during these games of Uno that Rimsha noticed that Messiane would encourage Rimsha to let Joyce win. She says: "Messiane is very supportive of her younger sister. I can think of so many examples where she's been a really good sister."
Rimsha says that when siblings are in the same situation of having another sibling with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition, they naturally become each other’s support system.
In the beginning it took some time for Rimsha to insert herself into the complicated dynamic between the girls. But now the girls cherish Rimsha as someone that is just for them and them alone. Rimsha says that their chemistry is down to the excellent matching process at Noah’s Ark, she says: "I was quite specific that I wanted to work with girls and siblings and I got matched really quickly."
From Family Activities to Home Support Volunteering
Rimsha is glad that she started volunteering in the Family Activities Team at the same time as being a Home Support Volunteer. She says: "Someone at my training told me to do Family Activities as well and now I'm so glad that I do both. I think that they really complement each other."
Rimsha has a lot of energy and she needs it, she is currently studying adult nursing and also has a job! Because she is so busy Rimsha really appreciates the flexibility that volunteering at Noah’s Ark offers and says: "I really love how flexible everything is." Rimsha first found out about us when she was working as a student editor at nursing journal, ‘Nursing Times’, and came across Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice’s stall at a conference. Rimsha says: "I thought it was really interesting and sounded lovely, a few months later I applied."
When asked if her volunteering work helps with her studies, Rimsha says: "I don't even know where to begin, it helps with my studies in every way. It really develops you as a person and I've just become so much more confident."
Rimsha encourages anyone considering applying to be a Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice Volunteer to just do it! She says: "Noah's Ark are so supportive and responsive. The training and the staff are excellent."
Rimsha reflects on her match with Joyce and Messiane and says: "Knowing that I make such a positive impact makes me so happy. I know I'm going to remember the girls for the rest of my life and I hope they remember me too."
More Information
You can find out more about our Home Support Volunteer service here or check out our volunteering page for more information here.
