Across West Dunbartonshire, many people live alone and can often feel isolated. The reasons for this will be varied - they may have difficulty leaving the house alone, have no close family or friends, or have lost confidence after illness or a life-change. In every case, what is missing is someone like you. Everyone gets older and we are living longer. It can become harder to make new friends and connections as we leave work, grow apart, see family move away and deal with health issues. The aim of the initiative is to support people to feel they are involved in their communities and build their confidence to be as active as they can - we need your help to make it happen. With your help, someone in our community could feel supported, less alone and more able to get out and about. If this sounds like you, all we ask is a few hours every week of your time, over a year. We will be here to provide any help and support you need. In return you will have the satisfaction that your support has made all the difference in someone else’s life. Please help us. You will understand that for everyone safety you will be asked to go through a PVG (police) check. WDCVS VISA employability scheme is where volunteers who are actively looking for work can brush up on the skills that employers are looking for, the VISA certificate highlights the skills that the volunteer has achieved in their volunteer role, the certificate can be created and sent to them as a PDF.

Across West Dunbartonshire, many people live alone and feel isolated. The reasons will be different - they may be housebound, have no close family or friends, or just feel anxious. In every case, what is missing is the chance to just blether. Care-givers are a great support, but they can’t give the time that some of our neighbours need. If chatting about the weather, who’s who on TV, what team is playing best or just what’s happening in the world sounds like you…then we need your help! A regular call from you will make all the difference to someone who may have little or no other company during the day. All we ask from you is an hour or so of your time, a listening ear…and of course, your chat! WDCVS VISA employability scheme is where volunteers who are actively looking for work can brush up on the skills that employers are looking for, the VISA certificate highlights the skills that the volunteer has achieved in their volunteer role, the certificate can be created and sent to them as a PDF.

No matter how good our services are, we can't properly support our community well if we don't have good Support people in the team. If this sounds like you?... we would love you to consider volunteering with us for a few hours per week. WDCVS is the local third sector interface for West Dunbartonshire, we are looking for some Administrative support for our forums. We have 5 forums currently running and we would like someone who is able to contact the forum membership by email to inform them of the day and time of the next forum meeting, we would ask our forum volunteer to follow up the initial email contact with a phone call to confirm numbers for each forum meeting. Keeping notes of who has attended the forum and to send out the minutes once the forum has finished. Our forum volunteer can join in with both our online and in-person events, as a volunteer at the events we would look for the volunteer to take notes to accompany the minutes of the facilitator and we would encourage our volunteer to participate in the forum discussions. WDCVS VISA employability scheme is where volunteers who are actively looking for work can brush up on the skills that employers are looking for, the VISA certificate highlights the skills that the volunteer has achieved in their volunteer role, the certificate can be created and sent to them as a PDF.

Volunteers are the most integral part of a Health & Social Walk. From offering a friendly welcome at the start of the walk, to providing a safe, supportive and welcoming space for participants of all abilities to enjoy low-level activity, to meet new people, make friends and enjoy paths, routes and greenspaces within their local area. As a Volunteer you will also experience all the benefits of the walk from Physical Health to Social, Mental Wellbeing and personal development as a trained walk leader developing new skills. A Health & Social Walk Leader isn’t the only role you can explore, the range of volunteer opportunities can include: Health Walk Leader – become a trained Walk Leader in your area to support the delivery of Health Walks. Health Walk Leader assistant – help the Walk Leader with some of the tasks on local walks. Route Planner & Checker – find, research and check new routes that are safe and suitable for your local Health Walk. Welcomer and Buddy – a more informal role which helps ensure all new participants to a Health Walk have someone to talk to on their first visit. Publicity Volunteer – put up posters, distribute leaflets and help with the promotion of your Health Walk to encourage new walkers to join. Before you become a Walk Leader you will be encouraged to join a walk and chat to other Volunteer Health Walk leaders before your training so that you have an idea of how it works on the ground. Volunteer walk leaders receive on-going support from the Health Walk coordinator. WDCVS VISA employability scheme is where volunteers who are actively looking for work can brush up on the skills that employers are looking for, the VISA certificate highlights the skills that the volunteer has achieved in their volunteer role, the certificate can be created and sent to them as a PDF.