Children 1st Family Wellbeing and Befriending Volunteer, East Renfrewshire and Glasgow South

Children 1st
VO100751

Do you think you have the personal qualities and time to help us make a real and lasting difference to the lives of children and families in Glasgow and East Renfrewshire?

About Children 1st
At Children 1st our ambition is for every child in Scotland to be safe, loved and well with their family. As a charity we offer emotional, practical, and financial support to help families to put children first and campaign to uphold the rights of every child.
We support the whole family when they need it, for as long as they need it. We offer help to prevent families reaching crisis point, to keep children safe and to support children and families to recover from trauma and harm.
About the service/department

In East Renfrewshire and Glasgow south we aim to strengthen relationships within families and reduce emotional distress. Placing the voice of children, young people and their families at the Centre of the support, the team provide whole family support; focusing on highlighting the resilience of families and responding to their individual needs. We support family members of all ages across our services; however, in East Renfrewshire there is a particular focus on supporting young people between 8-18yrs. The training for this opportunity will be in our Giffnock office.

General Purpose of Role:
To support the work of Children 1st staff in helping families become more resilient by:
•building relationships with the family group and/or individual family members
•helping reduce isolation and promote a sense of belonging by encouraging families to engage with their wider communities
•building on identified strengths to increase self-esteem and confidence in individuals
•assisting parents to provide a safe and nurturing environment for their children

Key Tasks
It helps us to be most responsive when volunteers are trained to support children and families in different ways. We explore what will be the best fit for you and the service from the tasks below at interview and during training and induction.
Key tasks may include:

Family Wellbeing
•How you spend your time will be different for each family but will probably include spending time with a family in their own home. Activities may include play, informal learning and support with establishing a family routine. It may also include support with practical tasks.
•Spending time out and about with the family in the local community accessing activities and resources such as libraries or groups.
Parent Mentoring
•Helping to increase a parent or carer’s confidence and self-esteem by building on identified strengths and abilities through forming a trusting relationship.

Key Tasks (cont)

Befriending
•Organising and undertaking weekly activities with a child or young person, either in their own home or out in the community
•Supporting and developing a child or young person’s personal and social development
•Helping the child or young person to build their self-esteem and confidence through praise and recognition
•Creating opportunities for a child or young person to experience new activities and develop their interests
All Family Wellbeing Volunteers will:
•Keep in regular contact with Children 1st staff
•Record all interactions with parents and families in line with Children 1st’s recording procedures. Volunteers will be supported by Children 1st staff to do this.
•Take part in relevant meetings such as support meetings and training sessions

Time commitment
21 hours initial training generally followed by a weekly commitment of 2 or 3 hours. Volunteers are asked to commit a few hours a week for at least a year

If you are interested, please click the ‘Apply’ button (available when logged in and registered). You will then be contacted by the coordinator by email or phone call. If you have not heard back after 5 working days, the first step is to contact the organisation with the contact details provided. You could also check your junk/spam folder on your emails just in case the response is there. If that doesn’t work out, then please feel free to contact Volunteer Glasgow at info@volunteerglasgow.org.
OR
For more information, please email carole.nicol@children1st.org.uk

Experience required

Specific requirements
• No qualifications necessary and full training is provided
• Knowledge/understanding of issues affecting children, young people and families
• Good communication skills with children, young people, families and Children 1st staff
• Experience with families and/or children is desirable
• Volunteers are required to be members of the PVG Scheme for this role. Children 1st will support volunteers to apply for this and there is no cost to the volunteer.
Core requirements

Travel details

Locations across the Glasgow and East Renfrewshire Local Authority Areas. Our office base is in Giffnock.

Travel expenses

Out-of-pocket expenses
Volunteers are encouraged to claim reasonable out-of-pocket expenses for travel and costs incurred as part of the volunteering role.

I want to volunteer