Founded and maintained by an order of Catholic Sisters, The Daughters of the Cross of Liege, the St. Elizabeth's Centre is open to all on the basis of need regardless of religious cultural or ethnic backgrounds. Staff and volunteers do not have to be members or practise any religion, but they are expected to respect the Christian ethos of the centre.

The St. Elizabeth's Centre is a National has been providing education, care and medical support to children and adults with epilepsy and associated disabilities for over 100 years. It is one of only 2 national epilepsy centre offering services to all age groups. Residents come from all over the UK and in addition to living with epilepsy most have learning disabilities. St Elizabeth site hosts a residential special school, a "village" of modern bungalows for adult residents and a day college offering independence training programmes to 19-25 year olds.

Volunteers working in the School will work alongside teachers to help facilitate the integration of individual children and students. Volunteers will be asked to help with a group, or allocated to a specific child/student, so that a member of staff can be freed to work with an individual’s educational programme. This means that individuals with particular difficulties are able to participate in the classroom.

Other tasks:
- To attend and participate in staff meetings
- To offer security, safety and support the children in your care
- To assist children with learning activities in the classroom
- To carry out individual programmes and/or therapies as agreed at staff meetings and as directed by senior staff and therapists
- To accompany, when requested, pupils to appointments at dentists, opticians, etc (with a full time member of staff)
- To assist the pupils during and after a seizure and support the medical staff in providing accurate descriptions and records of seizures

The project is looking for volunteers who wish to give something back to local communities. They should enjoy and want to work with people with disabilities and to enhance the quality of their lives. Key skills include being able to use your own initiative, empathising with the needs of others, working on your own and as part of a team, reliability and punctuality. Volunteers always work alongside full time staff and are directed in their work on a daily basis by the teacher in the classroom. Induction and Supervision is provided and there is a key person allocated to monitor all volunteers.

St. Elizabeth's is located in the beautiful countryside in Hertfordshire. The closest town to St Elizabeth´s Centre is Bishosp Stortford or Harlow. There is a public bus from Harlow and Much Hadam to St Elizabeth. There are a number of bicycles for volunteers to use, which can be rented from reception, with a £5 returnable deposit. We also provide a subsidised transport system of a mini bus. Travel by Train: London to Bishop Stortford is 37 minutes.

Volunteers live in groups on site in St Elizabeth´s accommodation. They all have their own bedroom and have a shared living area, fully equipped kitchen and bathroom. Bed linen and towels are provided. Volunteers can decide on a daily basis if they wish to cook their own meals or eat in the staff restaurant  which provides subsidised meals. They also provide daily shopping trips to the local supermarket (Tesco).

Website: www.stelizabeths.org.uk