Re-engage (Shetland)
Charity registered in Scotland SC039377
Re-engage is a charity that is positive about older age and committed to fighting lonliness so that people can have social lives and friendship groups however old they are. We inspire and enable meaningful connections and shared experiences within communities across the UK for people over 75 facing lonliness and social inclusion.
Our volunteers work together to create better communities and help to enrich the lives of our members by giving them something to look forward to.
Older people who may have felt very alone, now feel values as individuals, continue to form friendships, and have groups that give support. We make sure that people know they are important well into old age.
Current opportunities
Our tea party group coordinators are a vital part of the Re-engage team.
Tea parties provide a lifeline of friendship for our older people, and the regular, warm, friendly chats and companionship provide a vital link with the outside world from which they have become isolated.
As a tea party group coordinator, you will ensure older guests know when and where the next tea party will be held and who will be collecting them each month. This is an administrative role that requires planning and scheduling, you must be comfortable organising monthly events with volunteer hosts, socialising, communicating with people and resolving issues that might arise. You will need a PVG for this role. Sometimes, tea party group coordinators are also drivers or hosts for their group, but this is not a requirement of being a coordinator.
Tasks include:
• Welcoming new volunteers and ensuring they have the right checks in place.
• Meeting / communicating with older guests prior to them joining the group.
• Remaining in regular contact with Re-engage and reporting back any issues or concerns.
• Responding to any issues and queries from the volunteers and older guests in your group.
• Following all guidance in your group coordinator training modules to ensure that the tea parties are enjoyable, appropriate, and in line with our charitable aim.
• Planning and organising the monthly event, ensuring that tea party volunteers (hosts and drivers) have all the support and information they need.
As a call companion, you will make regular telephone calls to an older person experiencing loneliness and isolation. These calls provide a lifeline of friendship for our older people, and the regular, warm, friendly chats and companionship provide a vital link with the outside world from which they have become isolated.
Over time, you and the older person you have been matched with will get to know each other well and together you will spend many hours full of fun, laughter and stories.
You will need one reference and to complete an ID check for this role.
Tasks include:
• Calling the older person you have been matched with two to four times per month at an agreed time.
• Following the guidance in your call companion training modules to ensure that your calls are enjoyable, appropriate and in line with our charitable aims.
• Keeping in regular contact with Re-engage.
This is a flexible, homebased voluntary role that can easily be fitted in around your own lifestyle and availability.
Call companions call the older person they are matched with between two and four times per month, and each call lasts around 30 minutes. During your first call with the older person, you will decide together how often the calls will take place and at what time.
This is a long-term voluntary role, so we are ideally looking for individuals who are able to commit to volunteering with us for at least 12 months.
Impact volunteers help us to evaluate our work so that we can understand the impact of our services. This can involve interviewing older people or asking them to complete questionnaires.
The role asks you to give around two hours each week (or eight to 10 hours per month). You will spend most of your time surveying older people on the phone and gathering their responses, and there may be interviewing opportunities for those volunteers who would like to do so. This is a flexible and remote voluntary role that can be carried out from home.
You will need one reference and to complete an ID check for this role.
Tasks could include:
• Conducting evaluation surveys with older people over the phone.
• Collecting evaluation responses on an online form during calls and submitting to Re-engage.
• Compiling and inputting data from written surveys into spreadsheets or systems.
• Conducting evaluation interviews with older people over the phone (this requires prior experience and / or qualifications).
• Following all guidance in your impact volunteer training modules to ensure that you handle all personal data securely, are aware of our safeguarding framework, and that the activities are completed in line with our charitable aims.