This month we are looking at Care and Support roles.
Skills required for these roles vary but often include being a good listener, compassionate and enjoy helping people.
During the recent pandemic many acts of care, large and small, supported statutory services too. Volunteers came forward to deliver shopping, pick up prescriptions, talk to those who were isolated and marshall at the Vaccination Centres. Even small acts of kindness can make a huge difference to someone’s day, so please do think about volunteering.
Many people rely on volunteers to support them – this may be as a listening ear, an advocate, peer support or advice and information about rights, ways of coping and available sources of help. Many of the organisations working in these fields offer thorough training and support to their volunteers, so you shouldn’t be left to cope with things on your own. Citizens Advice, for example, will train you to support clients to take action to resolve their problems. This might include drafting or writing letters, making phone calls or referring clients to another organisation.
If you are a good listener, non-judgemental and caring or simply like to talk to others, you may find an interesting volunteer role in this area. Not all these support roles involve a lot of talking though, there are many driving roles too for instance. Optio drivers take frail and elderly people to much needed medical and other appointments. The FYT Bus in West Wight and IW Community Bus service is also run by volunteers.
These are just some of the examples of local organisations who are currently recruiting to support related roles:
Befriending and Talking over the phone
Wessex Cancer Trust – Befrienders
Leonard Cheshire – Befrienders
Abbeyfield Ryde – Befrienders
Embracing Age Care Home Friends
National Youth Advocacy Service – Volunteer Independent Visitor – volunteer with a child in care
Cruse Bereavement Care Isle of Wight Bereavement Volunteer
Blind Veterans UK Home Visitor Weekly
Age UK Isle of Wight – Good Neighbour Scheme Volunteers
Motor Neurone Disease association MNDA – Support Volunteer
Independent Visiting Service – Volunteers
British Red Cross – National Support Line Volunteer
Skills required – Personal experience, good listener, empathetic
Helping at a Café or other Activity
Alzheimer Cafe IOW Alzheimer Cafe Volunteer
Barnardos IOW – Children’s Activity Support Group Helper
Sight For Wight – Welcome Hosts
RNID
Storeroom2010 Cowes Mens’ Shed
Skills – Open, friendly, can do attitude, empathetic, good listener, able to make tea!
Getting People to their Appointments
Optio Voluntary Car Service Islandwide Drivers, especially in Brading & Brighstone
Sight for Wight Mini Bus Drivers & Bus escorts
FYTbus (Wight Community Access Ltd – Car drivers and passenger assistants
Skills – Safe drivers, cheerful, reliable, caring
Emergency Response
Suicide Prevention Front Line Team Members for Suicide Prevention & Intervention IOW (SPIIOW) | Isle of Wight Volunteer Centre (iwvolunteer.org)
Wight Search & Rescue Search Technicians for Isle of Wight Search and Rescue (Wightsar) | Isle of Wight Volunteer Centre (iwvolunteer.org)
British Red Cross Emergency Response Volunteer for British Red Cross | Isle of Wight Volunteer Centre (iwvolunteer.org)
Skills – Able to stay calm and follow procedures when under pressure, good listener, reliable
A few words from some of our local organisations:
Embracing Age Isle of Wight
We are part of a national charity called Embracing Age. We seek to bring hope, joy and loving care to care home residents without family and friends across the Island to help combat isolation and loneliness .We are looking for volunteers to support residents through our befriending service , Care Home Friends.We ask you to commit to 1-2 hours a week .You may spend time chatting ,reading allowed, play a came , going for walk or an activity the resident enjoys .Training and DBS undertaken . You may also like to take part in our complementary projects , Cards of Kindness , Knitting Capes and The Flower Bouquet Blessing .For further details contact rebecca@embracingage.org.uk /Tel No. 07419338066
Website www.embracingage.org.uk. https://www.facebook.com/IO WCHF
Cowes Men’s Shed
Storeroom’s Community Project, The Cowes Men’s Shed offers free membership to everyone aged 18+ and 25% of the members are women. The Shed has a well equipped carpentry workshop, hobby room, gardens and polytunnels. New friendships are regularly made at the Shed, not just between older people but across the sexes and ages. A volunteer here could get involved in keeping everything clean, neat and tidy. Help in the gardens would be most welcome too! Keeping those weeds at bay and maybe assisting with plants that are being grown to sell to raise funds for the Shed.