Home About us For volunteers For organisations For groups Find opportunities Contact us

Find opportunities

Group Support Volunteer - East Renfrewshire

  • Who Cares Scotland
  • VO96498

Description

We are looking for committed volunteers who can provide a strong foundation to help strengthen their communities by helping Care Experienced children and young people engage in activities to build their skills and confidence and to be included, understood, respected and valued in their communities.

The Participation Support Volunteer role will assist in providing and supporting activities for young people, providing supportive adults to ensure all children and young people can thrive and bring communities together. This role will involve interacting with young people primary aged 6-13 years through supporting and leading on a variety of activities eg, arts/crafts/sports/general youth work at our fortnightly sessions as well as at our National events that happen throughout the year.

This role will help build community strengths for Care Experienced people and provide social networks to help build resilience and positive outcomes for children and young people. Who Cares? Scotland is a people organisation. We invest in our people, our relationships and in a positive working culture. It’s important to us that our volunteer team is included, involved and motivated to change society.

Due the importance of building and maintaining relationships we are looking for someone who can have a long term commitment to supporting our group.

We aim to recruit people with excellent qualities from a wide variety of backgrounds who share in our mission. We particularly welcome applications from individuals with care experience.

What will I be doing?

  • Supporting staff to undertake and plan activities
  • Leading on activities
  • Supporting Care Experienced young people’s sense of belonging and connection
  • Building community ties, ensuring Care Experienced people are welcomed within communities
  • Helping children and young people to have fun
  • Building children and young people’s confidence and self esteem
  • Being a positive role model

What skills can I bring to this role?

  • Experience of working with children (not essential)
  • A knowledge of issues affecting Care Experienced children and young people
  • Ability to work well with children and young people
  • Good communication and listening skills
  • Ability to encourage and motivate children and young people to participate in activities

What qualities do I need?

  • To have a non-judgemental approach to people, have empathy
  • Be enthusiastic, flexible, and committed
  • Reliable and approachable
  • Friendly, helpful, and understanding
  • Reliability and a commitment to treat all information in a confidential manner
  • To have a good value base, be open minded and level-headed

What will I gain from the role?

  • A sense of satisfaction in helping children and young people build their confidence and self-esteem to achieve their full potential
  • Practical experience of working with children and young people
  • Experience to get back into the workplace or education
  • Have fun!

What support will I be given?

  • Volunteer induction and child protection training
  • Role specific training and additional training opportunities
  • Expenses – all out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed
  • Supervision and support from your volunteer co-ordinator

Organisation aims and objectives

Who Cares? Scotland is a national voluntary organisation, working with care experienced young people and care leavers across Scotland. We support care experienced people to have their voice heard and influence to make positive change within the care system.

Availability

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening

Regular groups on Tuesdays, fortnightly, 5.30 – 8 pm Occasional school holiday activities and events

Restrictions

Travel details: Dalmeny Community Centre, Barrhead
Minimum age: 18

Support

Expenses paid: Yes
Support: Named Contact For Volunteer

Last updated 2 months ago

Similar opportunities

Board Members
  • City Moves Dance Agency SCIO
Citymoves Dance Agency SCIO is a regional dance charity based in Aberdeen, in the North East of Scotland. Our charitable purpose is to lead positive impacts through dance. The organisation was established as an independent Scottish charity in 2015. We’re committed to making continued improvements to how we work, across all parts of the organisation. We strive to remove barriers so that people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds can experience the benefits of a life enriched by dance. We welcome a diversity of perspectives in the work that we support, the classes we teach, the talent we nurture, and the people we recruit. We believe this makes us an organisation that is stronger and more meaningful to the communities we serve. The next period will see us deepening our commitment to artists, audiences, and participants across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and thinking about how we best serve our communities. *About the role Citymoves’ trustees are responsible for the governance and strategy of the charity. We welcome applications at any time, from individuals with a variety of skills. Experience in any one or more of the below areas would be particularly welcome: • Finance and fundraising • Knowledge of the local Aberdeen ecology • Running an arts or community organisation We welcome both new and experienced trustees from across the UK. We are interested in people who are enthusiastic about learning, and who would like to contribute to the development of dance in the North East of Scotland. *Time commitment Trustees are expected to attend the quarterly Board Meetings and one strategic away-day per year. We also have a Finance Committee who meet quarterly, and an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group. Other working groups are formed subject to need. Meetings are held on Zoom. This is a voluntary, 3-year appointment, with reasonable travel expenses covered. We also have a learning budget and are committed to supporting the development of our Trustees. Excellent support and relevant training is provided to all Board Members. Trustee training for board members is through an online onboarding process. Citymoves Dance Agency takes new trustees through their induction pack and has two sessions 1-2-1 with the chair of the board, prior to attending their first board meeting. *How to apply Please email us at citymoves@citymoves.org.uk with your CV and covering letter for consideration by the Board. Please confirm in your email that you are not disqualified from acting as a charity trustee. Any questions, please contact us at citymoves@citymoves.org.uk, or call 01224 984159.
Find out more
Driver
  • Mearnskirk Helping Hands
One of the biggest barriers people face in attending our groups and activities is the ability to get to us. There is limited public transport to where we are located and sometimes people coming along need a little bit of assistance or extra time to get from their home to a vehicle, which taxi drivers sometimes cannot provide. As a Volunteer Driver you would be providing the means for someone to be able to attend a group, allowing them to meet with others attending and have some company, ultimately helping to improve their wellbeing and make them feel less lonely. As a Volunteer Driver, we'd ask that you use your own car to pick people up, take them to the group and be able to take them home again. We provide all out of pocket expenses, so your mileage would be reimbursed at £0.45 per mile. Sometimes people might need a bit of assistance and you would be provided with full training on moving and positioning to support someone to get in and out of a vehicle if needed. We are looking for drivers to be able to bring people to our Men's Breakfast Club on a Friday morning, 10–11 am and also to our Blether & Brew Group, which is every second Tuesday, 2-3.30 pm. A PVG is required for this role. If you enjoy driving and would like to use this skill to make a huge difference to the life of someone living in your community, this role could be just for you.
Find out more
Board Member
  • Mearnskirk Helping Hands
Mearns Kirk Helping Hands was established in 2016, running a variety of groups and activities to improve health and wellbeing and reduce social isolation and loneliness in the local community. Since being established, we have grown to run nine groups throughout the week, a befriending project, as well as specialist groups, such as IT learning classes. Our charity is volunteer led with nearly 100 volunteers helping across the charity. It's an exciting time as the charity looks to continue to evolve to meet the needs of our community. Particularly given the rise in the ageing population in the local area. To do this, the charity is seeking new Board members to guide and develop what we do. In particular, we have identified that our Board requires people with certain skill sets, these are in: * Fundraising * Voluntary Sector * Marketing * Finance * Human Resources Being part of the Mearns Kirk Helping Hands Board gives you the opportunity to lead on the development of a local, community based charity, ensuring we are sustainable, have good governance and good practice. You'll also be making a difference to the lives of those who use our services as well as our volunteers. We ask that you can commit to attending four Board meetings per year, alongside our Annual General Meeting. Other time you would need to give would be dependent in the role you could fulfil within the Board around the specific areas of expertise we are looking for.
Find out more
Befriender
  • Mearnskirk Helping Hands
Volunteer befrienders (18+) will be matched with a person in the East Renfrewshire area aged 65+ who are looking for company or support to become more connected to their community. The befriender will visit the person once a week in their home for an hour or so or accompany them to an activity. If, due to COVID restrictions meetings can't happen, contact will be made over the telephone in the first instance.
Find out more