Shetland Bereavement Support Service (SBSS) are looking to recruit volunteer Support Workers. A Support Worker will provide one to one counselling to anyone struggling to cope following a bereavement.

We have just moved into new premises and following a refurbishment we are opening our doors very soon. Due to the increase in days we are open, we need more volunteers to support the centre. CLAN Cancer Support is a well-established, local charity providing emotional and practical support to people affected by cancer, their family, carers and friends. Services are freely offered to all from pre-diagnosis and diagnosis through to treatment and beyond at our support and wellbeing centres located across the north-east Scotland, Moray, Orkney and Shetland. Our aim is to help people live with and beyond their or their loved ones cancer diagnosis and improve the quality of life for all those who turn to us for help and support. The role of Support Volunteer at CLAN is to offer clients affected by a cancer diagnosis an opportunity to talk with someone who can listen and provide emotional support and help to promote and raise awareness of our services. Our Support Volunteers don’t have to be experts as they will be trained in the skills that will enable them to provide the right level of emotional support to all our clients. Throughout their time volunteering with us at CLAN they will have access to ongoing support and further training. As you will appreciate the nature of our work means we deal with vulnerable members of the public and therefore we ask for a character reference in respect of those who wish to volunteer. We also require a Disclosure Scotland check to completed. Clan will meet the cost of this. If anyone is interested in the role, please get in touch with Helen Hasnip or Christine Roper at Banchory@clancancersupport.org or ringing 01330 538967 (leave a message)

Based in health, care and community settings, CCL is a service that promotes wellbeing by offering an active spiritual listening service. CCL helps people explore their deepest hurts and draw strength from their own inner resources and from the communities of support around them. CCL is a short term, early intervention model of person-centred, assets-based, spiritual listening with the aim of promoting personal and communal spiritual wellbeing. We are looking for volunteers to become listeners with the following experience: 1. Recognition of a spiritual dimension to life in self and/or others (create a safe space for the person to verbalise whatever gets in the way of their wellbeing and resilience) 2. Personal resilience, receptiveness to the pain of others 3. High degree of reflexivity, ability to recognise own inner process 4. Accepting and non-judgmental presence, commitment to person-centred ways of being and doing 5. Advanced communication skills, ability to handle raw feelings and emotions 6. Ability to foster wellbeing and autonomy rather than cultivate neediness and dependency 7. Ability to hold clear boundaries about issues and relationships 8. Ability to demonstrate previous experience in active listening it is expected that potential Listeners would be able to demonstrate these skills within their training and continue to develop these qualities when delivering the service. Based in a health care setting, usually a GP Practice. Commitment to 4 days training and a half day a week am/pm listening. Referral based listening service usually from GP or other Health Professionals. If you have any questions or would like to discuss our volunteer opportunity please contact Evonne Llewellyn, Community Chaplaincy Listening Service Volunteer Coordinator at evonne.llewellyn@nhs.scot or call 07584 217192.

*Help with soup making and/or serving, supporting and socializing at our fantastic Y Knot Drop- in Lunch Club* You would be joining a team of volunteers, helping to provide a safe, welcoming space where visitors can relax and enjoy a friendly chat and a variety of activities, such as cards, dominoes and occasionaly crafts. Our visitors are people from all walks of life who need support to deal with challenges to their mental health. Volunteers can choose from a variety of options: >9.30am to 2.30pm Making soup, serving, joining in activities or >12noon to 2.30pm Serving, helping to clear up, joining in activities. (Everyone has lunch together) A monthly rota ensures that volunteers can tailor their volunteering times to fit in with other commitments. Some work once a month, others every week or once a fortnight. We would be happy to discuss details with you should you decide to apply-and we're hoping that you will. Preliminary visits would be very welcome. Training and support is also provided and all volunteers are greatly appreciated. Contact us by phone or e-mail at e-mail: maggie.whyte@churchofscotland.org.uk or tel.: 01224 635694 to arrange to “drop in” one Thursday.

Fledgling Arts Collective Central provide a platform both online and offline for those who struggle with mental health, addiction or who feel like they don't quite 'fit',or feel estranged to this world : to express themselves through art as catharsis. We encourage being CathARTic! We are currently recruiting new volunteers to a range of exciting roles to help us in our vital work. Volunteering opportunities include: *Fledgling Wings Moderator *General Senior Manager *Online Co-manager of Outreach *Outreach Manager *Outreach online volunteer position *Treasurer *Volunteer social media promoter *Volunteer website designer. These are fantastic opportunities to help volunteering-all help makes a real difference and is greatly appreciated. For further details please contact: Jewels Johnson at email: jewels-founder-fledgling@outlook.com

Childline is a vital service available 365 days a year to support children and young people, whatever their worry or concern. A ChildLine counsellor provides an essential service to children and young people who contact the helpline by telephone or via the ChildLine website. As a trained volunteer, Childline Volunteer Counsellors are able to respond to children and young people in a variety of ways that meet their needs at the time they contact. Full training is provided and ChildLine Supervisors always work alongside counselling volunteers giving support, advice and any direction required. A great opportunity to help make a real difference for the lives of children. For further details regarding this and other volunteer opportunities at our Aberdeen base or to apply to be a volunteer please: apply online via: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-you-can-do/volunteering-nspcc-childline or email: kerri.stewart@nspcc.org.uk / phone:01224 973030.

Could you be there for children? At Childline, our free counselling service for children, a child contacts us every 25 seconds. And thanks to our dedicated volunteers, who do a shift each week, we can offer support when it’s needed most. To make sure it stays that way, we’re looking for more brilliant people who want to make a difference. After you get trained and set up in your local base, you’ll be helping children and young people who need someone to talk to. Listening to them at first and then offering support, information, or practical advice. Interested? Then get ready to take a life-changing step forward – for you and for children. For further details regarding this and other volunteer opportunities at our Aberdeen base or to apply to be a volunteer please: apply online via: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-you-can-do/volunteering-nspcc-childline or email: kerri.stewart@nspcc.org.uk / phone:01224 973030.

The volunteer will join about 150 other Samaritans in the Branch which operates round the clock - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The volunteer will support people in crisis, either on the phone, in person at the Samaritan Centre, or by email. Each year we expect to receive about 25,000 phone calls, 300 personal visits, and over 2,000 emails from all over the world. There are also opportunities to take part in running the Branch and in our growing outreach programme.

Place2Be works with over 280 primary and secondary schools, reaching a school population of more than 116,000 children. As a volunteer counsellor you will work one to one in a therapeutic capacity with up to 3 children per week. The commitment is for one day per week, for three school terms, from 8.30am to 4.30pm to include therapy sessions and supervision of clinical work. There may also be opportunities to get involved with group work alongside the School Project Manager.

Help People at Difficult Times Listening volunteers are there for anyone who needs someone, and provide confidential emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide. Every seven seconds someone contacts us. Every seven seconds we can help someone turn their life around. As a listening volunteer you get the chance to make a real difference to someone’s future. You can offer support on the phone, email or text. Volunteers typically volunteer a minimum of a 4 hour duty per week, as well as a 4 hour night duty at monthly intervals. There are no qualifications required and you’ll receive full training to prepare you for the kinds of conversations you’ll have. And when you start out, you’ll have a mentor with you, to give you confidence you’re doing the right thing. You can also apply to help with administration or other non-listening support. Let us know how you would like to help.