Loneliness affects tens of thousands of people across the RAF community. Whether it’s a veteran struggling to adapt to life after service, or a family member facing difficulties alone, loneliness can be devastating to people’s mental and physical health.
The Connections For Life service offers friendship telephone calls to anyone in the RAF community who needs it, and matches caring, friendly volunteers, with those beneficiaries who are experiencing isolation. The RAF community is made up of both veterans and serving personnel, and their respective spouses, partners, widows or widowers. As a volunteer, you can offer a listening ear, help someone regain their confidence, share discussions around their interests and help them reconnect with the wider world.
The Connections Volunteer role would involve contacting a beneficiary over the phone on a regular basis. A friendly, 30-minute chat that a volunteer can offer will make all the difference, providing a vital link for someone who is lonely and isolated.
What will volunteers be doing?
A life of service in the RAF can include experiencing some distressing situations and moving around a lot. So, many of our veterans and serving personnel don’t have a close network of friends and family around them to help them through difficult times. Active service can lead not only to physical injury, but also to ongoing mental health issues. It’s our job to make sure nobody who has served in the RAF – or their immediate families – feels abandoned when they’re most in need.
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Experience required: • Patience and Empathy
• Friendly nature/rapport
• Good listener
• Ability to maintain boundaries
• Reliability
• A RAF or forces background is not essential, and we welcome applications from all areas of the community.
Travel details: Home based
Minimum age: 18
Training details: Our Training course is online and once completed can enhance your communication and listening skills. Our training course is also accredited, and you will receive a certificate of achievement.
Support:
Named Contact For Volunteer