Cruse North Wales Area

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT VOLUNTEER INFORMATION AND APPLICATION PACK

Thank you for your interest in Volunteering with Cruse Bereavement Care.

About Cruse Bereavement Care

Cruse Bereavement Care is the leading national charity for bereaved people in Wales, England and Northern Ireland. We offer support, advice and information to children, young people and adults when someone dies and work to enhance society’s care of bereaved people.

Cruse Bereavement Care Wales’s vision is that all bereaved people have somewhere to turn when someone dies.

Becoming a Children and Young People’s Bereavement Support Volunteer with Cruse

As a Children and Young People’s Bereavement Support Volunteer you will provide face-to-face bereavement support for children and young People in Merthyr Tydfil and RCT areas.

Pre-selection Criteria - To apply to become a Children and Young People’sVolunteer with Cruse it is essential that you have the following:

Two years or 100 hours of proven experience of working with children and/or young people in a formal setting (paid or voluntary).
A statement of about 200-300 words outlining their knowledge, skills and awareness in relation to working with children.
Two references relating to experience of working with children and/or young people in an employed or voluntary capacity.
An enhanced disclosure for working with children & young people from the Criminal Records Bureau (This is to be applied for on completion of the ACBC Training Course).

Application Form – If you feel that you satisfy the pre-selection criteria, the next stage of the application process is to complete and return the application pack that is included in this volunteer pack.

Pre-course interview – If your application form is successful you will be asked to undertake a pre-course interview prior to undertaking the Cruse Bereavement Care – Awareness in Children and Young People’s Bereavement Care (ACBC) Training Course.

ACBC and Child Protection Training - If your pre-course interview is successful you will be required to undertake a 9 day Level 3 Accredited Training Course – Awareness in Children and Young People’s Bereavement Care (ACBC) and a 1 day Child Protection training session. These training courses prepare you for your work as a Children and Young People’s Bereavement Support Volunteer. These training days are usually undertaken on a Saturday over a number of consecutive weeks.

Post-course Interview – Following the completion of the ACBC and Child Protection Training you will be asked to undertake a post-course interview.

Once you have successfully completed this application process you will then become a Children and Young Peoples Volunteer with Cruse Bereavement Care, Merthyr Tydfil and The RCT areas.

Benefits of Volunteering with Cruse

There are a number of benefits of volunteering with Cruse:

Flexible Hours – Once the application process has been completed the hours that you then commit to supporting Children and Young People are flexible.

Supervision – You will receive monthly Supervision for the support work that you undertake with Children and Young People.

On-going support – As well as receiving support from your Supervisor you will also receive support from experienced Children and Young People Bereavement Support Volunteers and the Children and Young People’s Development Officer.

Resources -You will be provided with access to the Cruse Intranet and to resources such as books and toys to help you to provide bereavement support to Children and Young People. You will also be able to access books from our bereavement library for your own personal development .

On-goingTraining – You will have the opportunity to attend regular training sessions and further accredited training courses. For example you may wish to undertake our accredited group work training course which will provide you with the skills and knowledge to run support groups for Children and Young People within Cruse. As a volunteer you will be required to undertake 15 hours of professional development training every year, 4 hours of which can be external professional development training.

If you would like to volunteer with Cruse as a Children and Young People’s Bereavement Support Volunteer please complete and return the application form enclosed in this information and application pack.Cruse Bereavement Care is the leading national charity for bereaved people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We offer support, advice and information to children, young people and adults when someone dies and work to enhance society’s care of bereaved people.

Cruse offers face-to-face, telephone, email and website support. We have a national helpline and local services, and a website and freephone helpline specifically for children and young people. Our services are provided by trained volunteers and are confidential and free. Cruse also provides training and consultancy for external organisations and for those who may encounter bereaved people in the course of their work.

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S (CYP) BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT VOLUNTEER APPLICATION FORM

CONFIDENTIAL

Thank you for your interest in becoming a CYP volunteer with Cruse Bereavement Care, Merthyr Tydfil and RCT Areas. Please ensure that you have read the pre-selection criteria for this volunteer role before completing the details below. The completion of this form may require you to give more information than you expected. Most Cruse volunteers will be in contact with people who may be vulnerable therefore our selection procedures reflect the need to safeguard the interests of our clients and our volunteers.

PERSONAL DETAILS

SURNAME:TITLE:

FIRST NAME:

ADDRESS:

POSTCODE:

TEL NO: E-MAIL:

DATE OF BIRTH:

How did you hear about Cruse Bereavement Care?

Have you ever had contact with a branch of Cruse Bereavement Care? Yes/No

If YES please give details

Have you had a close personal bereavement in the last 2 years? Yes /No

If YES please give details

Please tell us why you would like volunteer as a Children and Young People’s Bereavement Support Volunteer for Cruse Bereavement Care

EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL QUALITIES

Please tell us about your experience of working/volunteering with Children and Young People.

What are the qualities you feel that you could bring this volunteering role?

Do you have your own transport? Yes/No

Are you fluent in any language other than English?Yes /No

If YES please give details

Do you consider you have a disability or health condition?Yes/No

If YESplease give details

Do you have any specific needs?e.g. for the interview/when working with clientsYes/No

If YES please give details

DISCLOSURE OF CONVICTIONS (Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974)

Many positions within Cruse Bereavement Care involve working with vulnerable people therefore all applicants for roles involving client contact will be required to apply for a disclosure from the Criminal Records bureau. Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from volunteering. This will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances and background of your offences.

Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence or been given a caution reprimand or warning?

Yes/No

If YES please give details

REFERENCES

Please provide contact details for two referees relating to your experience of working with Children/and or Young people in an employed or voluntary capacity.

1STREFEREE

Name:

Address:

Postcode:

Tel No:

Email Address:

In what capacity does this referee know you?

2ND REFEREE

Name:

Address:

Postcode:

Tel No:

Email Address:

In what capacity does this referee know you?

DECLARATION

To the best of my knowledge the information I have given on this form is correct and complete. I have read and believe I fulfil the criteria for the CYP Bereavement Support Volunteer. I understand that this information may be kept on a computer file and that it will not be divulged to any other organisation. I understand that if any information is later discovered to be incorrect this may result in my no longer being able to work or volunteer with Cruse Bereavement Care.

Signed Date

Please print name

PLEASE SEND/EMAIL COMPLETED APPLICATION FORMS TO:

Alison Jenkins - Children and Young People’s Development Officer

Telephone no: 07950 793480

Cruse Bereavement Care,Merthyr Tydfil and RCT Areas

3 Cannon Street Aberdare RCT CF44 7AT

Email:

CRUSE BEREAVEMENT CARE – MERTHYR AND RCT AREA