Volunteers Needed for Community Singing Club on Thursday Mornings at Otterbourne Hill

We are looking for volunteers to help at our Community Singing club at Otterbourne Hill Community Hub on Thursday's between 10:30am and 12noon.

Singing for the brain bring people living with dementia together through music in a  fun and friendly environment.

Why volunteer with Brendoncare?

Brendoncare offer a range of services from community support and clubs, through to extra care housing and residential care, helping thousands of people across the south of the UK. These services are designed to empower people to live their whole life well, and it is largely down to the kindness, bravery and positivity of our volunteers that we are able to do so.

Who are you?

Brendoncare believes that without diversity we will be unable to fulfil our vision. We would like to hear from people who share a strong belief in our vision and values. We have a range of volunteer roles to suit people, regardless of age, background, or whether you can get out and about or want to stay at home; we’d like to hear from you.

What are the benefits for you?

This role allows you to develop at your own pace gaining experience, skills, confidence and friendships. We provide you with an induction, ongoing training and support, and reimbursement of out of pocket/travel expenses. Your DBS check will be provided at no financial cost to you.

’ All I can say is how much satisfaction and enjoyment I get out of it. I look forward every week to seeing the residents who greet me with smiles and appreciate the chats and laughs. It is so rewarding. I love all the staff too, many I have known a long time.’ – Yvonne (Knightwood Volunteer)

What difference will you make?

This is a fantastic opportunity to empower people at whatever stage of life they are.

“I wanted to give back some of that ‘warm fuzzy feeling’ to others, to let them know they are not alone and that people care about them.” – Jan (CSS Volunteer)

Keeping you safe in your volunteer role

Health & Safety is everyone’s responsibility in law. Our responsibility to keep our volunteers, staff and everyone in Brendoncare safe is embedded at every level of what we do. We want people to have the best experience of working and living with us, we want our staff and volunteers to have the most up to date information and tools, and we want to respond quickly to, and learn from concerns when things aren’t right. Some ways that we ensure this happens:

Working with potentially vulnerable people and people that need our support

This might mean that the people you volunteer for are vulnerable physically, mentally or emotionally. We address this by making sure our volunteers know about good care practices and infection control; legal responsibilities around data and health & safety; and how to safeguard the welfare of individuals whilst protecting volunteers, staff and the organisation from misunderstandings caused by overstepping boundaries.

Addressing behaviours that may be uncomfortable or unacceptable

Brendoncare has a code of conduct for all members and we use this to ensure clarity on how we expect people to treat each other. We also provide training and support to ensure that we can support people with a range of health & wellbeing needs.

Making sure the environments you are in are safe and welcoming

Brendoncare has robust procedures to make sure the areas you work in, and the activities you undertake, have been risk assessed and that we have communicated ways to mitigate any hazards. There will always be a member of staff to help if you have any concerns. There are some roles that mean you might be on your own, such as volunteer drivers or befriending, and we will clearly communicate with you about how to stay safe when lone working.

Risks associated with particular activities

Some roles may have particular risks that we need to guard against. For example, cooking, delivering exercise activities, using particular equipment (e.g. tools on the allotment), or driving. We will always ensure that you have had appropriate training and checks to give you and our residents and members confidence that every activity is as safe as it can be.

Responding to concerns and learning from experience

We will always listen to any concern about your safety. On joining us we will clearly communicate who you can approach for support and we have procedures in place if you need to talk to someone else either inside the organisation or through our Employee Assistance Programme through external providers. Sometimes things don’t go to plan and we ask everyone to make sure these incidents are reported so we can learn and improve in the future.

Skills

This role in particular would require you to be positive and demonstrate a willingness to help us deliver a fantastic service to the members of our clubs. Ideally, you will be a team player, happy to get involved in any aspect of the meetings whether that’s meeting and greeting, providing refreshments to the members or encouraging engagement of the activity. If you don’t have these particular skills then please do contact us to talk about other opportunities.

What is required?

This role will involve help in ensuring the venue is safe and welcoming for our members; this will include setting the room up appropriately, helping any members with limited mobility, engaging with our members and helping with the activities and refreshments. You may also have a specific skill or interest you would like to share with our members; we’re always on the lookout for new activities – if so we’d be very interested to hear from you!

We ask for two satisfactory references and an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Training is important to make sure we keep you and everyone we work with safe. If you are working remotely you may need to be able to access training on Zoom.