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Our statistics have revealed that 218,000 over 50s in Scotland say they feel lonely all or most of the time. As people get older, it can be harder to maintain social connections. Retirement, bereavement or moving somewhere new can leave people feeling lonely and isolated. That's where you come in! The Age Scotland Community Connecting Service aims to connect older people across Scotland to social groups and clubs in their local community. As a Community Connector you'll help to combat loneliness and social isolation by providing older people companionship and information on social opportunities over the phone. A fantastic opportunity to help and make a real difference. All volunteer assistance is greatly appreciated. For more information please contact Ashley Marr, Age Scotland Friendship Manager at email: ashley.marr@agescotland.org.uk or telephone: 03333232400.

This volunteer role is specifically focused on creating a space online where young people across Scotland can chat together, share ideas, raise issues and have fun! This opportunity is open to any young person aged 18-25 across Scotland with Type 1 diabetes. You will be given support and training to run this group and for other skills needed to be a peer supporter. What you will be doing Attend project activities and meetings with the other Peer Supporters over zoom to design and oversee the project. Share ideas about what would make a difference to the life of young people with Type 1 Diabetes. Alongside your fellow Peer Support volunteers, you will plan and moderate conversation on a large scale with young people across Scotland Promoting the project to young people across Scotland Moderate and interact with young people with Type 1 Diabetes from across Scotland on our digital stay connected working group. Plan and suggest discussion topics, conversation and competitions that your group can take part in

This is an great opportunity for a young person aged 18-24 to co-design and deliver a series of wellbeing workshops for young people aged 13-24 with type 1 diabetes. These workshops will explore the Five Ways to Wellbeing and what these mean for young people with type 1. We are hoping to recruit people from across Scotland to deliver these workshops and to help us design and write the activities and session plans. This is part of our Youth Peer support project - Type 1 Youth: Connect, Support and Share, and you will be part of a wider volunteering team.

Peer Support Volunteer - Bipolar Summary of Role: We would like to meet people who live with bipolar disorder and who have reached the point that they are managing their bipolar well. If you would like to spend a little of your time helping someone who has recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, then we would like to hear from you. The Volunteer Role (on-line and home-based): Working collaboratively with the Peer Workers and other colleagues, our Peer Support Volunteers provide complimentary practical and emotional support to those who have been newly diagnosed with bipolar. Our volunteers are able to utilise their lived experience of living well with bipolar disorder, to inspire and empower those who use the service to acquire and enhance skills to improve their personal resilience and enable them to live well with bipolar too. They will draw on their knowledge and skills to provide practical support in areas such as personal finance, budgeting, social inclusion, employability and education to support individuals to achieve their goals, to create meaningful and sustainable connections with other sources of support within their communities and instil a sense of hope for the future and what they can achieve. Volunteering times are flexible on any day, either morning, afternoon and evenings, to mutually suit the volunteer and the person benefitting from peer support. We would expect approximately 1 to 2 hours per week or fortnight time commitment

As a call companion, you will make regular telephone calls to a lonely and isolated older person. These calls provide a lifeline of friendship for our older people, and the regular, warm, friendly chats and companionship provide a vital link with the outside world from which they have become isolated. Over time, you and the older person you have been matched with will get to know each other well and together you will spend many hours full of fun, laughter and stories. You will need two references and to complete an ID check for this role. Tasks include: Calling the older person you have been matched with two to four times per month at an agreed time. Following the guidance in your call companion training modules to ensure that your calls are enjoyable, appropriate and in line with our charitable aims. Keeping in regular contact with your call companion coordinator and letting them know how everything is going. Completing monthly online reports about your call companion calls.

As a volunteer interviewer you will telephone applicants on behalf of Re-engage and ask them a series of informal interview questions. You will need to be comfortable making telephone calls and connecting with people remotely and using online applications to record answers to the interviews. Each interview should take around 20-30 minutes and you will need time to record the outcome. You will need to be comfortable with using online applications to record answers to the interviews. This role requires you to be available for at least two to three hours a week to make telephone interviews to potential volunteers, either during the day or evening. This is a remote voluntary role which can be carried out from home. You will need two references and to complete an ID check for this role. Tasks include: Making four to six phone calls per week to prospective volunteers. Arranging interview appointments. Using relevant interview form to record volunteer answers during interviews. Recording the outcome of every interview on a spreadsheet. Following guidance in Re-engage interviewer training modules to ensure that the interviews are completed in line with our charitable aims.

Our tea party hosts are a vital part of the Re-engage team. Tea parties provide a lifeline of friendship for our older people, and the regular, warm, friendly chats and companionship provide a vital link with the outside world from which they have become isolated. Reengage needs enthusiastic volunteers to work as tea party hosts. This is a flexible, voluntary role that can easily be fitted in around your own lifestyle and availability. As a volunteer host you will run a local Re-engage tea party one to two times a year. You will host a group of four to 12 people (which includes drivers, the group coordinator as well as older guests) in either your home or a community venue. The tea parties will last around two hours and will usually take place on a Sunday afternoon. You must be comfortable socialising with people and providing guests and other volunteers with refreshments. You will need two references and to complete an ID check for this role. Tasks include: *Completing and submitting a host’s home checklist for your own home or signing a declaration if you’re hosting at an external venue before your first tea party and on an annual basis. *Welcoming a group of older guests and volunteer drivers into your home or to the community venue. *Providing and serving refreshments for your group – usually food and drinks for afternoon tea. *Liaising with your group coordinator to ensure dietary requirements and the older guests' needs are met prior to the tea party. Informing the group coordinator of any safeguarding concerns or issues you might have. *Following all guidance in your host training modules to ensure that the tea parties are enjoyable, appropriate, and in line with our charitable aims.

We can all feel lonely and isolated at times and those feelings can be more intense and devastating if you are also facing financial hardship. Aberdeen North and South Foodbanks have come together, with funding from the Trussell Trust, to provide a financial resilience service where individuals who require a food parcel can receive money, debt, and energy advice. Aberdeen Citizen Advice Bureau will provide this advice. This service which will support those struggling with financial hardship will be supported by our Befriending Project. Volunteer befrienders will encourage those referred, to engage with the wider project. Our aim is to ensure that our trained and compassionate volunteers provide a lifeline to people, in the form of friendship and offer a helping hand to enable them to engage with the financial support on offer. If you would like to be a part of this holistic service, please apply to become a Volunteer Befriender. Activities include: • To befriend individuals who have used the food bank and who require financial/energy advice from Citizens Advice Bureau advisors and who would benefit from someone to accompany them to their appointment. • To participate in the TLC Volunteer befriender induction programme, and ad hoc training throughout the year as and when required. • To attend 3 monthly volunteer supervision sessions. • Commit to a regular 1hr 30min befriending session each week. • To establish and maintain appropriate boundaries within the befriending relationship. • To ensure that confidentiality is always upheld and be willing to report any concerns, including safeguarding issues to the project co-ordinator. • To work within a non-discriminatory framework. • TLC are looking for befrienders to ideally commit to the project for at least 12months. *(Note: Volunteer befrienders will not be asked or required to meet any personal care needs.) All help makes a real difference and is greatly appreciated. For further information please email us at volunteer@tlc.org.uk

Could you make a difference to children and young people in Fife? Are you looking for a new, meaningful challenge, a fun opportunity or a sense of achievement? Barnardo's are looking for enthusiastic individuals to offer support to children and young people across Fife, helping them to develop social skills, resilience and confidence. Befrienders engage in activities with children and young people. They can accompany them on trips to local parks and beaches, to libraries or to clubs or support them to develop hobbies. Befrienders also act as role models for children and young people by promoting trusting relationships and self-confidence.

CRED are looking for volunteers for a variety of services we provide. CRED support those in need with Shopping, Prescription collection, Patient Transport, Gardening, Odd Jobs, Buddy Support and Friendly Phone Calls. There is no minimum hours to volunteer, just whatever free time you have, even one hour a week can make a huge difference to those supported by CRED. CRED also have opportunities for those interested in volunteer Coordinator and Admin roles. Own laptop/iPad required, full training and ongoing support provided. This is a working from home role.