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Volunteers required. Time to spare? We need you!

15/04/2010

home >> News Archive >> Volunteers required. Time to spare? We need you!

Iinformation and Advice Outreach Volunteers – Black, Ethnic Minority Communities

Our Information and Advice team, based at ACC Head Office is looking for volunteers with language skills i.e. Polish, Chinese, and Arabic and similar cultural backgrounds to support the BME Officer with various administrative tasks, promotion and especially IT tasks and to act as a translator/interpreter if required. Ideally you will be IT literate, possess good communication skills (written and spoken) and be tidy and organised with a sense for details. Volunteers will need to be able to commit to a minimum of two hours support per week, Mon-Fri during opening office hours 9.30am to 4.30pm. A driving license is preferred but not essential.

Befriending Volunteers

Befriending volunteers support Age Concern Coventry in enhancing the quality of life of older people by offering friendship and companionship to those who may be isolated and lonely or who have lost their confidence to engage in social activities. Befriending volunteers will be matched with older people living in Coventry and will be required to meet with them regularly on a one-to-one basis by visiting them in their own homes for tea and chat, taking part in activities such as playing cards, listening to music and/or escorting the older person to ACC Friendship Groups, garden centres or pub lunches etc. Ideally you be able to relate well to a variety of different people, be reliable, have good listening skills and be caring, patient and sensitive.

As part of a new service, we are also seeking volunteers to befriending older people who have been diagnosed with mild dementia, full training will be provided. Volunteers will need to be able to commit to a minimum of one hour per week, Mon-Fri during office hours 9.30am to 4.30pm. Individual flexibility can be discussed.

Fit as a Fiddle Volunteers

Are you interested in health and fitness? Age Concern Coventry is seeking volunteers who can support the team in attending local older peoples exercise groups to take registers and money, meet and greet and support the Fit as a Fiddle Officer with general administration tasks. Ideally you will have an outgoing personality, have excellent people skills and be IT literate. A driving license is preferred but not essential. You will need to be able to commit to a minimum of two hours support a week dependant on exercise session times.

Advocacy Outreach Volunteers

By speaking up for, or acting on behalf of a person, Advocacy gives older people the support they need to take control of decisions that can affect their lives. It strives to redress inequality and tackle assumptions and prejudices. Our dedicated Advocacy Team aims to raise awareness of abuse by working closely with banks, building societies, GP practices and solicitors by supporting older people who have suffered abuse and by working hard to eliminate abuse.

Our Hospital Advocates assist patients in hospital with arrangements for discharge, supporting them during this transition period when home, supporting patients whilst they are waiting for assessment and to speak on their behalf should the need arise by liaising with other agencies and help patients who are unable to return home and need help and support to move into alternative accommodation.

Advocacy Outreach Volunteers will work closely with individuals on a one-to-one basis and support them; where possible to live life as they choose. Ideally you will be compassionate and empathetic to the needs of vulnerable older people, be organised and possess work/life experience from a nursing/legal background. You will need to be able to commit to a minimum of two hours per week, Mon-Fri during office hours 9.30am-4.30pm and possess a driving license.

Volunteers to Support Adults with Learning Difficulties

This is a service for older people with learning disabilities that offers social activities on two days each week.
Tuesday – Community Group
Meets at Age Concern Coventry, Warwick Row where members enjoy a drink of tea or coffee and a chat. The group is then taken shopping around Coventry town centre, with a stop for lunch at a venue of their choice. At the end of the shopping trip the group return to Age Concern where the members are collected and taken home.
Duration 11am to 3pm

Wednesday - Activity Group
The members enjoy a drink of tea or coffee and chat and they can then take part in a craft session. There is a lunch break followed by the afternoon session which offers a choice of either continuing with the craft session or playing various games (eg bingo). This all takes place at the Gilbert Richards Centre
Duration 10am to 3pm

The Retirement Options service is supported by a combination of paid staff, volunteers and students. Members of the group can be seen gaining in confidence as they take part in activities. Volunteers ideally will possess life/work experience in supporting people with learning difficulties and be able to commit to supporting the one or both session on a regular basis.

Contact and Connect Administration Volunteers

Contact & Connect contacts older people and connects them to services. The overall aim of Contact & Connect is to help older people live safely and independently in their homes and to improve their quality of life by easily and efficiently connecting them to appropriate support services.

How it works; when a member of staff or a volunteer from an involved agency comes in to Contact with a person who is over 60 and a resident in Coventry a Contact Form can be completed. Contact Forms are only completed with the older persons consent and involve a series of yes/no questions such as “do you want a free fire safety check and the fitting of a free smoke Alarm” as well as more open questions such as “do you have any main concerns about living independently in your own home”. Completed Contact Forms are submitted to Contact & Connect which then makes referrals to other agencies who can meet the needs identified on the Contact Form.

The role of the Contact Volunteer will be to help us understand where the service is working and where older people still need help by undertaking telephone interviews with past clients. Based within the Contact & Connect office at Radford Road Fire Station, the volunteer will undertake telephone surveys with past clients to find out how satisfied clients were with the service, if there are other things the clients need help with and how we can make improvements.

Ideally you will possess excellent listening skills and ability to empathise with older people, particularly through telephone contact and explain things clearly, be well organised, self motivated and flexible, be able to work effectively as part of a team and respectful of the needs of others, possess a willingness to work according to guidelines and standards including an understanding for the need for confidentiality and possess an open-minded approach, patience, sensitivity and reliability.

You will need to be able to commit to a minimum of two hours per week, Mon-Fri during office hours 9.30am to 4.30pm.

Can you help produce a newsletter?

Age Concern Coventry is looking to recruit a dedicated volunteer who can assist the Volunteer and Befriending Development Officer in designing and producing a monthly newsletter to be circulated to all current active volunteers of Age Concern Coventry.

Ideally you will have life/work experience of producing newsletter and enjoy seeking and pursuing interesting story lines. You must be able to commit to producing one newsletter per month and possess good IT and communication skills. Full training will also be provided.

What will Age Concern Coventry offer you in return for your time?

We will support you by providing induction training, a flexible commitment; reimburse travelling expenses, free CRB clearance and a friendly a supportive team

Access to on-going training

Social events and activities

All applicants must complete an Age Concern Coventry Volunteer Application Form, submit names of two non family members who can provide satisfactory references and, for some roles, complete an enhanced CRB check.

For further information please contact: Claire McCamley, Volunteer and Befriending Development Officer, Age Concern Coventry, Alvyn Smith House, 7 Warwick Row, Coventry, CV1 1EX. T: 02476 433980 Email: claire@accov.org.uk or click here to be taken to our volunteering page for more information and to complete an online enquiry form.

We thank you for your interest in working with us.