Ref: VOL/17-3 the Poppy Centre

Ref: VOL/17-3 The Poppy Centre

179 Townsend Lane

Liverpool

L13 9DY

Tel: 0151 330 5678

Fax: 0151 330 5679

Dear applicant,

Thank you for your enquiry into volunteering with Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton.

I am delighted to enclose an application form and a list of volunteering opportunities within Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton.

Please have a read through the list of opportunities and complete and return the enclosed application form to the following address:

Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton

The Poppy Centre

179 Townsend Lane

Liverpool

L13 9DY

On your application please state which role(s) you are interested in volunteering for in order of preference – 1 being very interested and 5 being least interested. If none of the opportunities listed suit your skills please leave these blank. You can also tell us what you are looking to do under ‘other’ as there may be many other ways you can support us in what we do. You can let us know if you would like to do more than one role here too.

When we receive your application we will pass it to the Manager of the service you are interested in. They will call you to arrange a suitable time to meet for an informal chat. Depending on the nature of the role and the service you may be asked to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service check at another time.

Many thanks once again for your interest in helping us to help older people in Merseyside.

Yours sincerely

Callum McInness

HR Administrator

The Benefits of Volunteering…

·  Learn new skills

·  Develop existing skills & knowledge

·  New experiences and challenges

·  Meet new people

·  Gain a new interest or hobby

·  Opens up a whole range of new and exciting opportunities

·  Looks good on CVs and University Applications

·  Influence career choices

·  Gain a sense of achievement

·  Gain a sense of pride; feeling valued and needed

·  Be a part of your community

·  Make a difference in someone’s life

·  Helps personal development and builds confidence and self esteem

·  Improves physical and mental wellbeing

·  It’s fun!

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM USING BLACK INK

GIVEN NAME: / SURNAME: / PREFERRED NAME:
(if different) / TITLE: (MR/MRS/MISS/MS)
ADDRESS:
POSTCODE: / TELEPHONE NUMBER:
EMAIL:
DATE OF BIRTH:
Please specify what type of volunteering you are interested in:
(Please number ONLY the activities that interest you in order of priority from 1- 5
(1 being of most interest and 5 being of least interest – see attached roles sheet)

-  Other (please give details): ______
*Training may be required to undertake any of the above roles / PREFERRED AREA OR LOCATION:
Please give brief details of current, and any previous relevant voluntary or paid work experience:
What are your main interests and hobbies?
Have you been convicted of a criminal offence that is not spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act(Yes / No): (Please Select)
A criminal offence disclosure does not automatically excludeyou from volunteering with Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton. The type of conviction and the role applied for will be taken into consideration.
Please note that some roles will require the organisation to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check. However you will be informed of this at your first meeting and prior to any checks being made.
How did you hear of the work of Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton?
Liverpool Echo advert / editorial Local radio Website
Word of Mouth Current Volunteer One of our Centres
Poster at Sir Thomas Street Shop Window Poster
Event (please specify) ______
Other (please specify) ______
What skills can you contribute in helping those who use our services?
What is your reason for volunteering for Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton?

Is there anything else you would like to add to this application?

REFERENCES:
Please give details of THREE people we can contact for a reference. While we only require 2 we ask for a third as a backup in case of difficulty acquiring either of your preferred references. Your referees should NOT be a member of your family or a partner and should have known you for AT LEAST 1 YEAR. We cannot accept references by phone or any supplied with the application. These will be treated in the strictest confidence, the contents of which will remain confidential.
Be sure your nominated referees are able and happy to provide a reference for you. Doctor’s surgeries and some companies may not be able to do so. Please consider this before you nominate as it could delay the validation of your application. Please give full address and postcode details as applications with incomplete referee details can not be processed.
1. NAME:
ADDRESS :
POSTCODE:
EMAIL: / 2. NAME:
ADDRESS :
POSTCODE:
EMAIL: / Backup Reference
NAME:
ADDRESS :
POSTCODE:
EMAIL:
DECLARATION:
I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief the information given in this application is correct.
Signed Date

The Charity is an Equal Opportunities employer and welcomes applications regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, disability or marital status.

Volunteer opportunities with Age Concern in Liverpool

Where volunteers make a difference

Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton is a truly voluntary organisation. We pride ourselves on the dedication and commitment of over 400 volunteers. Without them we could not provide a wide range of quality services for older people in the city. We currently have a number of opportunities within our organisation – we hope that we can offer something for everyone!

Opportunities in Head Office

·  Meeter & Greeters – NO VACANCIES

·  Service Support Volunteers

(IT volunteers, arts & crafts, kitchen help including food prep, general help serving meals, tea & toast, helpers for the gardening club, quiz masters and reading groups) at the Poppy Centre, Townsend Lane, L13 – NO VACANCIES

Opportunities within our Charity Shops

·  Shop assistants and fundraisers needed (Garston and Bootle) - VACANCIES

Opportunities within our Community Health Ambassador Team (CHAT)

·  Helpers required to help at community health events / activities and in the office to help evaluate health outcomes – VACANCIES

Opportunities within our Befriending Service (Sefton)

·  Befrienders – VACANCIES

Opportunities within our Active Ageing Programme (Sefton)

·  Walk Leaders – VACANCIES

·  Cycling Leaders - VACANCIES

·  Helping out at Exercise Classes - VACANCIES

Opportunities within our Computer Programme (Sefton)

·  Providing basic one to one tuition in the home.

·  Outreach computer volunteers – VACANCIES

Opportunities within our Counselling Service (Sefton)

·  Trained Counsellors throughout Sefton – VACANCIES

For more information on Volunteering Opportunities in Sefton please contact Lauren Jones on 01704 542 993 or by emailing

Information about our Volunteer Programme

Thank you for expressing an interest in volunteering for Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton. The information below outlines the type of roles that our volunteers perform, the opportunities available and the sort of commitment we need from you to support the work that we do with Liverpool & Sefton’s older people.

Introduction

Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton has over 100 members of staff supported by over 400 committed volunteers. We recognise that we would not be able to provide the diverse range and high quality of services to older people in Liverpool & Sefton without the support of our team of volunteers.

Volunteering within Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton underpins the ethos of our charity which is to improve the quality of life of older people who live in the area.

Volunteers operate at all levels of the charity, enhancing it with their wealth of experience, commitment and ‘can do’ attitude.

People have different reasons for offering their time. We aim to engage volunteers in roles that are of interest to them, support them with appropriate training and guidance and ensure that volunteers are reimbursed for all out of pocket expenses.

What do our volunteers do?

Shopping Support Service Volunteers

Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton has a wealth of experience in delivering effective services to help older people live healthier, longer and independent lives.

The Shopping Support Service provides a wide range of support to meet the specific needs and aspirations of older people from practical support such as shopping, home safety and security or moving on to more suitable accommodation to social support such as help to stay in touch with family and friends or simply to get out and about. We also help with benefits entitlement and can provide access to other services including health, leisure and community activities. Information is freely available to enable older people to make choices and take control of their lives.

The Shopping Support Service is enriching the lives of older people by taking a holistic approach to meeting their specified needs and aspirations whilst retaining the dignity, pride and peace of mind of independent living.

Thanks to our fantastic team of volunteers and staff we are able to provide this vital service for older people across the whole of the city.

Do you want to help?

The Shopping Support Service is particularly proud of the willingness and support we get from over 200 volunteers who give a few hours of their time every week to help older people live life independently.

As a volunteer you will provide direct help to older people in Liverpool with the simple tasks they find difficulty in doing themselves, but are necessary to help them to remain independent in their own homes. You will visit clients in their homes every week and you might be asked to collect their shopping at the local supermarket or store and help them to put the shopping away. On occasions you might be asked to collect a prescription from the local doctors or pharmacy, or collect pensions from the local post office.

You will also keep an eye on the client’s health and well being and report in to our local office to enable experienced staff to ensure that they have access to all the other services to which they are entitled. Staff at Townsend Lane office are there at all times to assist with help, advice and support.

Most important of all, our volunteers often become close to their clients and make a real difference to their quality of life.

To become a Shopping Support Service volunteer you should:

·  Enjoy meeting and talking to people

·  Have a friendly, honest and calm disposition

·  Understand and relate to older people and their needs.

·  Be able to report regularly on the wellbeing of your clients

·  Be able to handle money and record spending

If you have a few hours to spare each week, and would like to improve life in your community, then we’d love to hear from you.

For more information call 0151 256 2543 and speak with Pat Berry

Social Club Volunteers

Age Concern Liverpool operates a number of lunch-time Social Clubs from our Poppy Centre in Clubmoor. Clubs operate between 11.00am and 2.30pm and provide a hot meal and some social interaction for vulnerable, isolated and frail older people.

Social Club Volunteers assist the organiser in greeting members, serving meals and hot drinks, clearing and washing dishes, tidying up the venue and should they remain until 2.30pm, assisting with the quiz, bingo or other social activities. They would then see members off the premises at the end of the session.

To carry out this role you will need to have:

·  Empathy with older people

·  Good communication and organisational skills

·  Be a team player

For those assisting in the kitchen, there are opportunities for volunteers to take a Basic Food Hygiene course.

Times and days can be agreed to suit the individual but the clubs normally run between 11:00am and 2:30pm – Whilst Volunteers are needed between 11:30am and 1:30pm we would be delighted should Volunteers remain until the end of the session, 2.30pm, to assist with the bingo quizzes and other social activities.

For more information call 0151 256 2543 and speak with Pat Berry

Volunteer IT Trainers

Our IT training course teaches a range of skills from turning the computer on to how

to utilise the more advanced elements of a computer

Our IT Trainers will:

·  Be good listeners with a patient nature

·  Be an effective communicator - with both written and verbal information

·  Have the ability to connect with a group and with individuals

·  Be able to deliver a structured training programme

Whilst experience of teaching or training is desirable knowledge of IT systems and

Programs are essential

For more information call 0151 256 2543 and speak with Pat Berry

Events Support Volunteer (Social Clubs & Everton Tea Dance)

Volunteer Duties include:

·  Reception / Meeting & Greeting

·  Data capture and inputting

·  Dealing with clients

·  Recording of registers

·  Assisting with activities

·  Organisation of refreshments

·  Assisting with the organisation and delivery of outings

For more information call 0151 256 2543 and speak with Pat Berry

Information and Advice Volunteers

Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton provides a professional Information & Advice Service for Older People and deals with approximately 16,000 enquiries per year. Our friendly, expert advisors offer free, confidential and impartial advice to older people, their families and friends and carers, on a wide range of issues affecting older people.

The service is based on the first floor in Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton’s city centre Head Office in Sir Thomas Street and operates Monday to Friday during office hours. This is a very busy department consisting of a home visiting service for those who are housebound or have mobility problems, daily appointments at head office and a drop–in service subject to the availability of advisors plus a telephone advice line.