As a Polish support work volunteer/ translator you will gain work experience in supporting Polish clients whom have been referred to our service. You will support the client to attend the service during their 4 week trial period, to help them feel more at ease and comfortable. You will be able to meet new people and support clients to engage in the activities within the premises. You will advocate on behalf of Polish speaking service users making sure staff and other clients understand their wishes. This will help the client to integrate into the service and improve their communication and language skills. In this role you may be requested to support English-speaking clients too.

*Lingo Flamingo is battling dementia through language - Join the flock! Lingo Flamingo is a non for profit organisation who teaches languages to older adults in care homes, day centres and retirement communities. Recent research shows that speaking a second language can postpone the effects of dementia by up to 5 years. We therefore use languages (Italian, Spanish, French or German) as a vehicle to empower the minds of older adults, proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks! We are looking for talented and passionate volunteers who would like to share the gift of languages with other people. Many of the people we teach are living with dementia or other conditions which are usually thought of as being barriers to learning, but we want to show that by adapting to everyone’s needs and focussing on having fun, it is never too late to learn another language! To volunteer with us, you need to be available for an hour a week over a 10 week period. We offer teaching training to prepare you for the role, so teaching experience is not necessary. All we ask if that you are reliable, compassionate and motivated to teach others! If this all sounds like exactly what you've been looking for, please get in touch! You can contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Leah, at email: leah.cowling@lingoflamingo.co.uk or tel: 07498723983 who will be delighted to hear from you and provide more information.

The State Hospital Board for Scotland are looking for an individual with experience of using British Sign Language (BSL) to help support the provision of activities for patients using BSL within the Skye Centre which offers various activities such as animal assisted therapy, horticulture, sports and fitness, arts and crafts, education, library, shop, cafe and social events. The volunteer would work in conjunction with a range of staff to provide support to patients who use BSL who may be admitted to the hospital. The State Hospital is one of four high secure psychiatric hospitals in the UK, located in South Lanarkshire. The principal aim is to rehabilitate patients all of whom are detained in the hospital under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act (2003).

You will be matched then visit a family weekly, to work on the parents' language skills. These families are usually asylum seekers/refugees and can find themselves socially isolated, often due to language barriers. You will visit a family weekly in their home for upto 2 hours to help build their confidence and skills with English using a practical approach. There is no formal curriculum to follow but we provide some resources to support you. You may also benefit from activities such as going to shops with the family, helping them to practice letter formation or talk with them about where they want/need to use English most.

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) in Clackmannanshire, Stirling and Falkirk provides opportunities to older people or those in or approaching retirement to volunteer in a primary or secondary school to support pupils with reading or writing, numbers, arts and crafts, music or other activities depending on the schools requirements. We are also looking for Volunteer Organisers to help grow the network of schools our volunteers work in, as well as being involved in the recruitment and training of new volunteers. School Volunteers are not teachers, however, the individual attention they can give to a child helps develop essential skills, as well as fostering children’s overall wellbeing and confidence. Volunteers usually go into school for one session a week. They give one-to-one help to children selected by the teachers to benefit from it. Volunteers liaise closely with teachers to complement the work in the classroom.

Our Language Cafes are friendly and informal weekly sessions where we invite everyone to chat in English and learn from each other about living in the UK. So far we have had over 25 different nationalities, aged be-tween 20 to 70+, with a variety of professions and educational levels. Every person attending our sessions is invited to enjoy an informal and welcoming environment that promotes tolerance and integration. Cafetistas come to learn about Aberdeen, meet people who share their circumstances and meet volunteers who would encourage them to improve their English and learn more about the UK. Every week we speak about a different topic or run an activity to encourage cafetistas to improve their language and personal skills and integrate into their community, whether in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire. *What are the benefits of being our volunteer at the Language Cafes: *You will learn about different cultures and use your personal and life skills to interact and help people who are settling in an unfamiliar environment. * You will exercise your existing capabilities and knowledge on varied topics whilst learning about new subjects and cultures. *You will learn about creative ways in which you can engage, encourage and motivate people. * You will have a positive and long lasting impact on cafetistas as well as in your community by supporting an environment of tolerance, respect and open interaction. *You will learn and practise your leading and problem solving skills as well as your creativity and adaptability. *We would like to invite volunteers who can: *Attend at least two language cafes every month over an extended period of time. This helps to support consistency and creates a solid relationship with our cafetistas and with GREC. * Research and share information with our cafetistas. * Act as moderators and lead activities with other volunteers and cafetistas during our sessions. * Create a welcoming environment by tolerating and respecting every-one attending our Language Cafes. * Ensure that everyone is given an opportunity to communicate and share their opinions during the sessions. We acknowledge our volunteers as the true foundation of the Language Cafes. A fantastic opportunity to help – with all help greatly appreciated. For more information please get in touch with Adriana via email at: language-cafe@grec.co.uk or tel.: 01224 595505.

The role of the one to one ESOL tutor will be to plan and deliver appropriately levelled English lessons for individual students who do not have English as their first language, meet with students for 1 - 2 hours once a week during school term time at DIWC, provide literacy support where appropriate, gather regular feedback and review progress and development of student with project staff, and work closely with project staff to source appropriate materials. The crèche costs are £2 per session for volunteers. DIWC ARE UNABLE TO OFFER ESOL VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES AT WEEKENDS OR IN THE EVENINGS.

Lingo Flamingo offers language classes to older adults in care homes to help support the battle against dementia. As a Language Tutor you will go into care homes and teach older adults in classes of ten - to help improve their language and research has shown that knowing a second language can delay the onset of dementia by up to five years. Learning a language also has cognitive effects. Lingo Flamingo offer comprehensive training and supply all the necessary teaching materials.

Volunteers will have the opportunity to enhance the experiences of our Special Olympics athletes, by giving up thier time to support the Games Organisers in a positive fulfilling event for all.

Great opportunity to develop leadership, writing, communication, management and marketing skills and to be part of the vibrant community of young theologians and to make a contribution to the enterprise that matters! We need your help in: • Maintaining effective internal communications within the organisation • Coordinating events • Planning and implementing promotional campaigns • Overseeing the social media strategy • Fundraising A fantastic opportunity to assist a brilliant group/charity. All help makes a difference and is greatly appreciated. For more details please contact Dr. Olga Sevastyanova, Chairperson at email connect@orthodoxresearchgroup.com or tel.: 07884971624.