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Quarriers East Dunbartonshire Phase 3 are looking for volunteer befrienders to befriend 3 individuals with learning and physical disabilities. Spending time with them doing indoor and outdoor activities, support them to build relationships and friendships, while making a difference to their lives. There will be fully trained staff within the service for support. All volunteers are PVG checked before starting to volunteer. For more information please email : VolunteerProgramme@quarriers.org.uk

Are you looking for a rewarding way of sharing your experiences and life skills in order to make a positive impact in your community and help tackle child poverty? This is the opportunity for you! Part of the Parental Employment Support (PES) programme, Project Scotland is now recruiting volunteer mentors to support an individual in their community to overcome barriers they face in sustaining jobs or progressing in work. Our PES mentors offer one-to-one support to a local parent (mentee) they are matched with for 1 hour every 1-2 weeks. This role will involve getting to know your mentee and the challenges they may face, discussing their future goals, sharing your own experiences or skills and ultimately champion them to progress in life and work. Our volunteers do not need to have any specific career experience or qualification – just a positive and empathetic mindset and a passion for helping others to succeed.

MCR Pathways is a multi-award-winning mentoring programme helping Scotland’s care-experienced and vulnerable young people achieve the same educational outcomes, career opportunities and life chances as all other young people. At the core of the MCR Programme are 1 hour weekly in-school meetings between a young person and mentor, who listens and provides encouragement. MCR Mentors come from all walks of life and commit to supporting a young person in school for a minimum of a year, ideally two. They are trained and supported by MCR throughout the mentoring relationship. External research shows that MCR mentoring has made a significant and lasting impact on young people’s confidence and self-esteem, in addition to school staying-on rates, attainment and progression to positive destinations - college, university, and employment. Share an hour and support a young person to reach their potential. When one person mentors, two lives are changed. Get involved! https://mcrpathways.org/become-a-mentor/

The aim of ‘Friends’ is to help improve the quality of life for our customers and address loneliness and social isolation. We are looking for friendly, outgoing and organised volunteers who will provide a safe, consistent and reliable support service to help customers experience companionship/social interaction on a regular basis either on the telephone, in customers homes or on group outings. You will spend time with your befriendee and simply chat, listen and discuss various topics of interest making the service fun and interesting. You will also have to provide project staff with information on how the time spent with befriendee is going and attend volunteer meetings. Timings - by arrangement. Please enquire.

We need you! If you enjoy having a chat, trying new things and developing your skills then this is the opportunity for you. Older adults (55+) in Dundee can become lonely and isolated through no fault of their own and that’s where Community Companions come in. Two hours a week can make such a difference to an isolated older person. Whether it’s out and about or visiting someone in their home this can be at a time that suits you. Volunteers are matched with people based on similar interests and hobbies. Full and ongoing training and support will be given to help you develop your skills and knowledge. Becoming a Community Companion not only improves other’s wellbeing but also your own. You’re never too old to be a volunteer! If you have what it takes to make a difference get in touch we want to hear from you!

If you can spare a couple of hours per fortnight minimum and are able to volunteer for a year or more helping adults who have become isolated through mental health problems we would like to hear from you. You will take your befriendee out to leisure and community activities and support them to do things they may be unable to do alone. Examples have included walks, squash, a knitting group, trips to a safari park, visiting museums, taking a class in IT skills, attending support groups, golfing, and just going for coffee and a chat. Initial and on-going training is given and other benefits include out of pocket expenses, regular support and supervision meetings, group events, Saltire or LINK Awards, reference after 6 months.

Plusone mentoring is looking for people that are willing to regularly meet up with a young person and do things together that are fun and engaging. You must be a good listener and be able to engage in conversations with the young person to encourage them to develop important life skills. You will always set a good example to the young person and encourage positive behaviour. You will play an important role in helping a young person achieve their full potential and build on the young person's strengths. This kind of relationship would make a difference within the community and make a difference in the life of a young person, supporting them to make better choices. The mentor has the opportunity to meet new people and make a difference in their community. This also gives the young person and the Mentor the chance to try new things together.

The Link-Up Project provides a mentoring service to vulnerable young people living within the boundaries of Dundee City. The target group are those young people who are involved in some way with substance misuse or offending. The service recruits, trains, supports and supervises volunteer mentors who are then matched with individual young people. Mentoring matches are closely monitored and reviewed to ensure they remain purposeful. You must be able to commit 2-4 hours per week for at least 1 year. Volunteers will be supported by the Mentoring Coordinator and full training will be provided. Having your own transport would be beneficial.

Cancer Support Scotland first began 40 years ago, in the cosy living room of Sir Kenneth Calman. Now in our new home amidst the leafy grounds of Gartnavel Hospital, we’ve worked hard to make sure things don’t feel a whole lot different. The Calman Centre was created as a safe space, helping everyone we support to feel at ease and in control. Where better then, than in a giant living room - where family and friends are welcome and the kettle is always on. As Scotland’s cancer charity, we have been the wellbeing champions for those affected by cancer for over 40 years – not only for those diagnosed, but their loved ones and carers too. We deliver high-quality counselling, complementary therapy, mindfulness, and stress management services to promote mental and physical wellbeing and to enable those affected by cancer to continue to live the most active life possible in their community. COVID-19 gave Cancer Support Scotland the opportunity to move many of our services over to a digital format and gave us the possibility to develop new services such as the ‘Here for You’ service. The purpose of this role is to offer a friendly chat to people new to Cancer Support Scotland that request the befriending service and people who have been accessing our services and now wish extra informal support from a befriender. The calls provide the person affected by cancer someone out with their family and friends that they can speak with openly and without bias. The aim is to help them regain their confidence, share discussions around interests and talk openly about their feelings. We are looking for people who can volunteer a couple of hours a week to provide these befriending calls which offer vital wellbeing support to people affected by cancer in Scotland. The role is to: - Provide support to people accessing Cancer Support Services by way of offering a listening ear/informal chat - Chat about what’s going on for the person, how are they coping with cancer, e.g. treatment issues or other stressors in their life - Signpost to other supports both internally i.e. counselling, stress management, mindfulness, aromatherapy inhalers, self-help resources and externally i.e. Macmillan, Beatson, SHAWS, GP, Citizens Advice, community resources If you're interested, please click the ‘apply’ button below (available when logged in and registered). You will then be contacted by the coordinator by email or phone call. If you have not heard back after 5 working days, the first step is to contact the organisation with the contact details provided. You could also check your junk/spam folder on your emails just in case the response is there. If that doesn’t work out then please feel free to contact Volunteer Glasgow on info@volunteerglasgow.org.

No matter how good our services are, we can't properly support our community well if we don't have good Support people in the team. If this sounds like you?... we would love you to consider volunteering with us for a few hours per week. Our Sheltered Housing is a group of 70 properties split between two complexes for older people and people with additional support needs and physical disabilities, to enable them to live independently for as long as possible within their own homes. Supporting someone in their own home is an ideal place for you to put your support skills to great use – have a caring attitude, free time to spend with someone who has a limited social circle, ability to chat, participate in activities and pitch in when required, this role includes spending time with someone who may be housebound or lacking in confidence to go out, the opportunity is about spending time with someone chatting about a variety of topics.