Volunteers for home visits to families of youngsters being cared for by Noah’s Ark children's hospice are urgently needed in north London.

The hospice has started an appeal this week for help to keep its Home Support programme running in six north London boroughs — Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Harrow, Camden and Islington.

“We want to tell people just how fulfilling and rewarding volunteering for us can be,” hospice chief executive Sophie Andrews said. “Our volunteers work with families in their homes as well as helping out in the hospice itself.”

The Home Support programme was set up in 2008 to help families cope with the demands of providing constant care.

But it is running short of people willing to help keep the service going.

The volunteers provide practical and social support to the families of children with life-limiting and threatening conditions.

This includes helping siblings with their homework, playing games or simply being a spare pair of hands with housework or gardening.

Becoming a Home Support volunteer in the community also directly supports children who are seriously unwell and their families, the hospice points out.

Noah’s Ark is marking the 40th anniversary of Volunteers’ Week with this latest appeal for its Home Support programme in the six north London boroughs it covers.

They are also looking for volunteers in Barnet and in Hertfordshire to lend a hand in the hospice itself in Byng Road, High Barnet, in roles from helping on reception or in the kitchen to working with the specialist play team.

Volunteering has always been essential to Noah’s Ark, offering what the hospice says is “a hugely rewarding experience” that can develop one’s knowledge and skills, whether just a few hours or a couple of days a week, all making a difference to the children and their families.

Indu Kalraiya, from Hendon, has volunteered at The Ark for the last 17 years. She said: “Everyone has a genuine approach and real empathy – you really feel that every child matters.”

People willing to help out are being asked to call 020-8449 8877, or drop an email to volunteering@noahsarkhospice.co.uk. There are also details on the “noahsarkhospice.org.uk” website.