Service Delivery Volunteer

Have you got what it takes to help ensure victims and witnesses are given the support they need and the respect they deserve?

Many people face the effects of crime alone and confused. Your support helps individuals and their families to feel stronger, understood and able to move forward with their lives.

What will I be doing?

·      Contacting victims and clearly explaining the role of Victim Support and empowering victims to overcome the emotional, psychological and practical effects of crime.

·      Helping people explore how their experience of crime has affected their lives and identifying ways to enable them to recover from the experience by helping them to identify their individual needs and helping them to choose options they feel are right for them.

·      Identifying situations where we cannot directly meet the needs of the victim and working with the client and the manager to make appropriate referrals.

·      Liaising with staff to arrange practical help for victims (such as lock fitting).

·      Giving information about other agencies and their procedures.

What skills do I need?

·      Approachable and non-judgemental manner.

·      Good listening and verbal communication skills.

·      Ability to problem solve.

·      Basic IT skills.

·      Ability to volunteer within our values, policies and procedures.

How much time am I expected to give?

·      Ideally you would volunteer for an average of 3 hours per week for a period of at least 12 months so that you can get the most out of the role and to provide some continuity to the victims and witnesses that we support. 

What does the training involve?

·      Foundation - this is eLearning that will take an average of 12 hours to complete over a 2-week period.

·      Multi-crime - this is a combination of 6 workbooks and participation in 2 workshops. This will take an average of 8 weeks to complete.

What are the benefits?

·      Full induction, one-to-one support for the role, and opportunities for excellent training and to develop new skills.

·      All volunteers have free access to the Employee Access Programme which provides free, confidential assistance with any work, personal or family issue.

·      Rewarding sense of having made a positive difference to people’s lives.

·      Learn about the work of criminal justice agencies.

·      All volunteers have free access to a wide range of e-learning opportunities.

·      Progress by specialising in supporting victims of specific crimes (such as domestic abuse or hate crime).

What opportunities do I get?

·      Join a team of like-minded people.

·      Contribute to our valuable work.

·      Ability to engage with the Victim Support Volunteer Panel.

·      Opportunities to join in project teams and influence development throughout the organisation.

This opportunity is available to all applicants aged 18 and over.

This role requires references and internal safeguarding checks including an enhanced DBS check. Volunteers will be asked to provide all relevant documents for VS to carry out these checks.

All volunteers must have an active email address that they use regularly and be willing to engage in our electronic means of communication, keeping up-to-date with information on our intranet, maintaining personal details on our database, and engaging in two-way communication.