The meeting was well attended by representatives from local caring organisations and people interested in volunteering. After interviews, twelve individuals decided to join the training programme, six are now in the process of being trained, with a further six opting to start training in September '95. A small advertisement in the Oxford Times proved very successful, so that we have a training group of nine, as well as volunteers waiting to be trained in the autumn. In London, most of the seven volunteers on the training programme came through The Natural Death Centre's mailing list, with others attracted by an advertisement in Time Out, and through ads in local volunteer bureaux. We feel confident that we can attract further volunteers, using our experience in Oxford, when the London volunteers organiser is appointed.
Volunteers are very varied in age and background.
Most share some experience of loss in their lives, though this bereavement is not always related to a death. We have been impressed and moved by the qualities and skills the volunteers have brought to the Network. For future training programmes we will actively recruit volunteers from the ethnic communities in the areas where we are working. Training The training programme for volunteers started in London in November 1994, with an introductory day for volunteers. This continued with occasional all-day training days, usually held on Sundays.