Who is Volunteering Matters?
We are a leading UK national charity volunteering in policy and practice. We run a project in Southend-on-Sea to support local families.
In addition, we manage a service delivering activities online, by telephone, and post, to support older people to reduce isolation, and increase social interaction.
Who benefits from the programme?
Families whose children are at risk and older people who may feel isolated and alone. Social care teams also benefit from the results of the programme.
How does it work?
Once matched, the volunteer will visit the family at least once a week, building up a strong relationship based on trust and mutual respect. As a positive role model, they listen and offer practical help.
Volunteers visit at a time that suits the family and will commit to working with families for at least six months.
The project delivers positive outcomes for families, enabling parents to improve their parenting skills, engage with universal services, access health checks, and improve their children’s school attendance.
Older people are also supported by the team. We are offering the service UK wide as it’s non-geographical and free to participants as our services are delivered by volunteers and costs met by our funding.
We are currently delivering a tablet loan scheme to help people who would like to be digitally connected, and IT support volunteers (over the phone) to help get people started.
The families we support?
We support many families all with different needs i.e. young parents, families where there is little extended family, or community support, housing concerns, or financial issues.
What do our volunteers require before they are matched?
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- Complete an application form and attend an interview
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- Provide at least 2 references
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- Complete a Disclosure and Barring Service check and local authority check
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- Complete the Volunteers Supporting Families comprehensive free training and induction process
