Family peer support worker
Volunteering in our Strengthening Families service
Volunteering is a great way to build skills, meet new people and feel like you’re giving back to your community. We believe everyone has something to offer, and we couldn’t do what we do without our wonderful volunteers. Volunteering in our Strengthening Families service means you’ll be offering vital support to a parent or carer who needs a bit of extra support.
Parenting – especially being a new parent or carer – can be really hard. And when life’s feeling difficult in general for one reason or another, or when we’re going through something traumatic, it can feel even harder.
Our Parent-Baby Service works with parents and the professional teams around them to help develop a strong, healthy, happy relationship with their baby. The team is there to support parents to stop the little things from becoming bigger things. That might mean supporting parents who have experienced or are experiencing difficult things, parents who are feeling the pressure of parenthood or families who simply need a bit of extra support.
What is a family peer support worker?
With your knowledge and experience as a mum, dad, grandparent, or carer, you could be the vital support a family needs and make a big difference in their lives.
Some of our families may be dealing with a variety of difficulties including post-natal depression, isolation, physical and mental health problems, bereavement, financial worries, or relationship difficulties.
Your role will be to support them in the way that works for them; this might include practical tasks such as getting out of the house, getting to appointments, or helping to get organised. You might also do things like offering advice, either face-to-face, via text support or over the phone, sharing experiences, or supporting parents through emotional issues
What we need from you
We’re looking for people who can:
- Use their experience of being a parent or carer for a baby/child to support others
- Get out and about in the community
- Understand the importance of confidentiality, as the support provided to families is completely confidential
- Use your friendly, non-judgemental, and empathetic attitude to show awareness about the pressures of bringing up a family
Your learning and development
Our training is designed by experts in the industry and will include:
- Volunteer induction
- Safeguarding training
- Equality, diversity, and inclusion training
- Oliver McGowan training on learning disabilities and autism
During your training, you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and gain an understanding of the importance of your role. The training will be delivered via online courses that can be done from the comfort of your home. All the training you receive will be accredited with a certificate.
You’ll also attend a virtual volunteer induction and an induction day within the Parent-Baby Service. You’ll also spend time getting to know our friendly team so that they can match you with the right family.
We invest in our volunteers from day one and make sure each volunteer is supported by a member of staff throughout their time whilst volunteering with us. You’ll also receive regular support and have supervision sessions.
This role will require a DBS which will be completed by PSS.
If you’re interested in volunteering, get in touch with Abi, our volunteer coordinator: email [email protected] or call 07764469365.