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Tea Party Host

Re-Engage (Clacks)
VO93035

Re-engage is a charity that is positive about older age and committed to fighting loneliness so that people can have social lives and friendship groups however old they are. They inspire and enable meaningful connections and shared experiences within communities across the UK for people over 75 facing loneliness and social isolation.

Volunteers work together to create better communities and help to enrich the lives of their members by giving them something to look forward to.

Older people who may have felt very alone, now feel valued as individuals, continue to form friendships, and have groups that give support. The group make sure that people know they are important well into old age. Respectful, determined, warm, pioneering, and local: they are Re-engage and they are bringing generations together.

Tea party hosts are a vital part of the Re-engage team.
Tea parties provide a lifeline of friendship for the older people, and the regular, warm, friendly chats and companionship provide a vital link with the outside world from which they have become isolated.

Re-engage needs enthusiastic volunteers to work as tea party hosts.

This is a flexible, voluntary role that can easily be fitted in around your own lifestyle and availability. As a volunteer host you will run a local Re-engage tea party one to two times a year. You will host a group of four to 12 people (which includes drivers, the group coordinator as well as older guests) in either your home or a community venue. The tea parties will last around two hours and will usually take place on a Sunday afternoon. You must be comfortable socialising with people and providing guests and other volunteers with refreshments.

You will need two references and to complete an ID check for this role.

Tasks include:
• Completing and submitting a host’s home checklist for your own home or signing a declaration if you’re hosting at an external venue before your first tea party and on an annual basis.
• Welcoming a group of older guests and volunteer drivers into your home or to the community venue.
• Providing and serving refreshments for your group – usually food and drinks for afternoon tea.
• Liaising with your group coordinator to ensure dietary requirements and the older guests' needs are met prior to the tea party.
• Informing the group coordinator of any safeguarding concerns or issues you might have.
• Following all guidance in your host training modules to ensure that the tea parties are enjoyable, appropriate, and in line with the charitable aims.

Experience required

They are looking for hosts with the following skills and attributes:

• Organised
• Good conversational skills
• An enthusiasm for making genuine connections with older people in your community
• A friendly, patient, and empathetic approach
• Passion for entertaining, providing food and refreshments
• Basic understanding of food hygiene
• Basic computer literacy (including the ability to use email)

I want to volunteer