Volunteering
Watch our Volunteering Video: Befriending With Improving Lives
This video was filmed and edited by Oliver and Rozalia, 2 brilliant media students at NTU, as part of a community engaged learning project.
Ron’s Story
“It’s a relief knowing someone is coming to see me, the home can begin to feel like a prison when there’s never a knock on the door. I look forward to seeing Ellie, it breaks things up and helps me remember I’m not alone.”
Ron is a male in his 60s who lives alone. He has no known family and before he was introduced to our service had an extremely limited social network.
Ron was referred to Improving Lives for both practical and emotional support. His support worker was able to help with things like paperwork, housing and liaising with external services to support Ron as he receives specialist counselling. An internal referral was made to our befriending service in the hope to increase social interaction and link to support where necessary.
Ron was introduced to volunteer befriender Ellie in May 2022. She has visited Ron at his home every fortnight since. Ellie enjoys her visits with Ron and is a bridge back to Improving Lives should he need further support.
Before connecting with Improving Lives Ron says it would be common for him to go weeks or even months without speaking to anyone.
Ron has built a trusting relationship with both Ellie and the Improving Lives Team: so much so, that he has found a new confidence to attend regular social groups, which is something he never imagined himself doing.
Our TechMate project provided Ron with a tablet. The scheme was designed to help people we work with, connect with their support networks during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Ron enjoys writing poetry and short stories as a positive outlet for his mental health but he isn’t too tech savvy - so he has been handwriting his work for years. With support from Ellie, Ron has been able to access the internet to upload and share his work on online forums where he receives some wonderful feedback.
It’s wonderful to know what a difference having a befriender has made to Ron, and the strides he has made to become an active member of our social groups.
Ron is hoping to share some of his work at next year’s Nottingham Poetry festival. We look forward to championing him to achieve this!
Current Volunteer Roles
Face-to Face and Telephone Befriender
Time Commitment: 1 -2 hours per week
We are looking for passionate, empathetic, and committed volunteers to provide much valued contact to people we support who are socially isolated.
Befrienders are volunteers who are paired with a person who accesses our service and make regular contact a weekly or fortnightly basis, to provide a listening ear, link to other services and to monitor general wellbeing.
Befrienders offer a range of contact to the people we support from telephone calls, to meeting up in the community for a cup of tea and a chat or attending our monthly social groups.
Full training and ongoing support is given by our Volunteer coordinator and the wider team, and expenses are covered for travel and refreshments if face-to-face befriending.
Skill Requirements
Good listening and communication skills
Understanding of confidentiality
Understanding of the needs of people in the community
Patience and sensitivity
Reliability
Flexibility
Willingness to undertake induction training and work within the organisation's guidelines and policies
Availability between Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm
You will need to complete a DBS check prior to the support starting: this is paid for by the charity. Ideally, we are looking for a year’s commitment to Improving Lives; we will discuss this commitment with you to ensure this is time you would be able to give.
Please note, our Volunteer Befriending role is for ages 18 and over.
If you would be interested in volunteering for us, we would love to hear from you. Please download our application form and equals opps form below, complete and return to volunteers@improvinglivesnotts.org.uk
Group Volunteer
Time commitment: 2 hours a month
Our regular social groups are a way for people we support to access a safe space, to engage in creative and social activities, meet others and access support from us where needed.
Our main groups include art, craft, walking, and pool. We also have crochet workshops, a music appreciation group, jewellery group and often provide ad hoc activities such a cookery class, mindful gardening, a digital workshop, and more! We are always open to different ideas.
It‘s always a huge help to our team to have an extra pair of hands at any of our groups! We are very grateful for volunteers that come along, as our groups are often well turned out.
Group Tasks for Volunteers
Helping set up and pack away.
Buddying with a person who may be anxious during a group/meeting them outside the building.
Engaging with people attending the group.
Offering refreshments.
Communicating details of future groups to service users.
Raising any queries or concerns to staff and complying with our safeguarding policy.
Skill Requirements
Good communication, listening and language skills.
Ability to work as part of a team.
Patience and understanding.
Passion to support people who may be struggling with their mental health.
Commit to supporting at least one group per month (2 hours)
We offer full training and support to all of our volunteers and we are happy to chat to anyone who wants to find out more.
“I thought the training was very useful and it was helpful to be able to discuss with others how we would respond to certain situations.”
— Improving Lives Volunteer
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