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As part of the RAF Association, our Connections Volunteers offer the vital connection and support our beneficiaries need. In this role, you will make a real difference by helping support a lonely individual via regular telephone calls.

Home-Start is a voluntary organisation in which volunteers offer regular support, friendship and practical help to young families under stress in their own homes helping to prevent family crisis or breakdown. Home-Start volunteers support families in the following way: - Offering support, friendship and practical help. This might include help with budgeting, meal planning, attending appointments, accessing services etc. - Visiting the families in their own homes, where the dignity and identity of each individual can be respected and protected through non-judgemental, compassionate and confidential support. - Reassuring families that difficulties in bringing up children are not unusual. - Emphasising the positive aspects of family life and positive parenting. - Developing a relationship with the family in which time can be shared and an understanding developed. - Encouraging parents’ strengths and emotional well being for the ultimate benefit of their own children. - Encouraging families to widen their network of relationships and to use effectively the support and services available in the community.

D&G Befriending Project is a local charity which offers an early intervention service across the region for eight to eighteen year olds. It recruits and trains adult volunteers who are, in turn, matched one-to-one with individual young people. Once matched, the befriender commits to spending a few hours a week or fortnight with “their” young person, spending time building up a relationship and taking part in shared activities. Children and young people referred to the Project may be isolated within the community or experiencing difficulties at home or school. The time spent with an adult befriender can provide vital individual attention and release from day-to-day pressures. Having and working with a befriender can help the young person tackle difficulties before they get too big. The young people benefit from the energy and enthusiasm of their befrienders and gain confidence from forming a positive relationship with a supportive adult. Volunteer befrienders are men and women from all walks of life. They may be a student, a parent, or an older person. The most important factors are that they have an interest in young people, are reliable and have some time to spare. The Project has found over the past 20 years that having a befriender who will commit to spending a few hours a week or fortnight - to share enjoyable activities or simply have time to chat can make a huge impact in a young persons life.

Our Helper Volunteers give companionship and emotional support to people living with a terminal illness and their families. Up to 3 hours a week, having a chat, helping someone to an appointment or just providing a friendly ear.

As a call companion, you will make regular telephone calls to an older person experiencing loneliness and isolation. 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.

VTO provides free one to one tuition to children and young people (aged 8-18) to help tackle the attainment gap in Scotland. We work with young people from diverse backgrounds including those from low income families, care experience, EAL, or those faced with perceived barriers to learning. Our volunteers are responsible for developing a person-centred tutoring experience online. A key part of this role is relationship building, mentoring, instilling confidence, and empowering young people through education. Volunteers from a range of diverse backgrounds and experiences are welcome. What will I be doing? Working one to one with a young person who requires tutoring support online. Relationship building and mentoring Instilling a growth mind set towards learning Monitoring and recording progress of learning and keeping in contact with your assigned Learning Communities Coordinator. Tutoring in English, Maths and potentially other subjects, dependant on experience. Sourcing and creating engaging ways to support pupils’ skills and learning.

The Volunteer Befriender helps residents who feel isolated or unable to get out very easily on their own by giving time on a one to one basis to help a person maintain social contact, provide companionship and reduce loneliness and social isolation. Volunteer befrienders build a positive relationship with an individual and visit them on a regular basis in their own flat. This could mean spending some time with a person for an hour or two every week/fortnight, we also encourage getting out and about for a coffee or short walk. Generally, befrienders are there to chat and get to know someone, have fun. Support the person to continue with existing interests, whilst encouraging them to embark on new activities. Volunteer duties: • Organising visits / trips out on a regular basis. • Support residents with their interests • Encourage residents to embark on new activities • Be a friend and have fun

Project Scotland supports young people across Scotland to reach their potential through tailored support, mentoring, and the opportunity to experience the benefits of a volunteering placement. We are searching for people to commit to spending one hour a week for a minimum of 6 months, mentoring the young people that Project Scotland works with. The support the mentor offers is dependent on what the volunteer finds useful and might include: helping your mentee to identify their skills and strengths, reflecting on their placement and working with them to develop their CV and interview skills.

The SPRING Social Prescribing Project supports people self-manage long term health conditions and connects them with local activities and support available. Volunteers assist individuals through providing regular contact and a non-judgemental listening ear as well as identifying relevant local support available.

A listening Ear provides a befriending service to people who are isolated and vulnerable, offering friendship, signposting, information and referral to other appropriate agencies. A Listening Ear is an open access service serving the communities of Dumfries and Galloway. Role Descriptor •Volunteer Ambassadors will identify and develop relationships with key Community spaces/ assets in order to display and promote the services of A Listening Ear, replenishing literature as required. •Volunteer Ambassadors will develop an understanding of community or wellbeing events, for the purpose of promoting the work of A Listening Ear to develop referral pathways,. •Volunteer Ambassadors will support the Volunteer Coordinator in planning and hosting localised events such as group befriending sessions, festive get togethers or volunteer drop in sessions.