Youth Befriender Volunteer East and/or North Norfolk

Are you passionate about helping young people reach their potential?

This is an amazing opportunity to share your compassionate nature by supporting a young person.

We are looking for volunteers to support our Unity Youth Team to provide one-to-one support to a young person.  Depending on the needs of the young person, support may be on a regular, ad hoc or one-off basis. 

Supervision and support will be given by the Matthew Project. This is an amazing learning and development opportunity, whilst at the same time helping young people and their families to achieve their potential.   This could be an ideal opportunity for someone who wants to gain experience in the social care field as the Matthew Project will endeavour to support any student volunteers to meet specific criteria for their course, where possible. 

Specific tasks will be agreed with the young person, their Matthew Project Keyworker and Practitioner Manager.

Task may include:

·       Making calls to the young person, as necessary, to check on their wellbeing. 

·       Meeting with the young person for a coffee and chat in a public place. 

·       Following up on any needs identified by the young person’s Keyworker (e.g. support in completing a form, offering moral support at a meeting where the keyworker is not required in a professional capacity). 

·       Reporting back to the young person’s Keyworker. 

·       Supporting the young person to access services. 

·       Accompanying the young person to any Matthew Project event. 

Out of pocket expenses will be reimbursed.

Volunteers will need to specify, at the application stage, what commitment they can give so that an appropriate Volunteer Befriender role can be allocated, in accordance with a young person’s needs.   If a “match” cannot be made immediately, the Matthew Project will keep the volunteer’s details on file and contact them when a suitable match is made. 

Personal qualities are very important to volunteering roles.   You will need to be reliable, friendly, enthusiastic, and have a positive attitude to life.  We also value good listening and great communication skills. 

The application process will include an interview, referencing and, if appropriate to the volunteering role, checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service.

If you are interested in volunteering with us, please complete the Volunteer Application Form by clicking on the link: https://forms.office.com/e/tStq5NnUdc