Empathic Helpline Volunteer Roles in Home Based
Faith to Faithless are launching a brand new helpline for apostates in the summer of 2023, for people leaving high-control religions, and we’re looking for committed, compassionate volunteers to join us.
You will be a motivated, dedicated, and organised person with great communication skills, who is enthusiastic about volunteering your time and skills to support individuals leaving high-control religions (also known as apostates). You will have lived experience or understanding of the issues apostates face, and a kind and empathic approach to working with others.
We’ll train you to handle calls with confidence, and you’ll be getting valuable experience in supporting service users with multifaceted needs. This is a volunteering role where you can develop your interpersonal skills, help members of our community that need it most, and make a real difference in their lives by helping them to get back on track to living happy, purposeful lives without religion.
Key Tasks and Activities
- To respond quickly and efficiently to calls requesting help, providing a listening service, signposting and information to people who have experienced victimisation due to leaving their religion.
- To deliver work which adheres to high service standards, ensuring compliance with all policies and procedures.
- To keep and maintain accurate and confidential records of all work undertaken.
- To identify and maintain appropriate boundaries for all callers and recognise when and where to signpost callers for further help/information as appropriate with appropriate support from the apostate services manager
- To proactively continue to develop appropriate knowledge, attitudes and skills through regular reading of information and attending training courses.
- To support the training of helpline volunteers as required.
- To attend supervision, meetings and appraisals.
- To undertake any other appropriate duties as requested by the ASM
- To work at all times within the policies and procedures of Humanists UK.
Download and read the full application pack for more information. To apply, please complete the application form telling us why you’re interested in the role and detailing how you match the person specification on page 4 of the application pack. Then return the completed form with the subject ‘Helpline Volunteer’ to volunteer[at]humanists[dot]UK.
Please complete the application form
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as the applications come in. Don’t miss your opportunity, apply now!
Family Lives operate a free confidential helpline for anyone experiencing difficulties in their family or relationship.
Our volunteers take calls from parents and carers on a wide range of subjects, whether that might be issues around separation and divorce, isolation, depression, bullying and abuse, dealing with behavioural problems, etc. You can find out more about our services on our website.
We are a national service with home-based call takers county wide and we also have a call centre in Old Hatfield Hertfordshire. Once trained volunteers sign up for a weekly 4-hour shift comprising 3 hours ‘online’ followed by a debrief session with your supervisor which can lasts around half to one hour.
We recruit volunteers with a range of backgrounds and experiences though we ask that volunteers have experience of parenting or working with children and young people, are good listeners and have a willingness to learn. Being remote it will be very important that you have a PC/laptop, plug in headset with microphone, good Wi-Fi and a private place to work from home.
You need to be a UK resident.
Our training programme is excellent and will give you the opportunity to develop the skills needed to offer empathic support and guidance to callers whatever their circumstances; all shifts are overseen by a regular shift supervisor who provides ongoing remote support. We ask our volunteers to make a commitment of 1 year (with time off for holidays), obviously we understand that circumstances sometimes make that an impossibility but can be helpful to know at the outset that is the general expectation.
We have call taker training sessions that run over five sessions and is done remotely connecting you via a Microsoft Teams link.
You would need to be able to attend all five sessions from one of these remote training groups and be available on four occasions to listen into calls, this can be organised remotely.
Remote Call Taker Training Dates:
April training dates:
Module 1 - Monday 22nd April
Module 2 - Wednesday 24th April
Module 3 - Monday 29th April
Module 4 - Wednesday 1st May
Module 5 - Wednesday 8th May
10am to 2pm
We are also running Saturday remote call taker training in June over 5 Saturday's the dates are to be confirmed.
Please note that all roles offered are subject to a satisfactory DBS being obtained, you will receive details of documentation required prior to your training and this must all be in no later than the second session of your training.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
An exciting opportunity has arisen to work closely with the North London Rape Crisis Counselling admin team.
About the role
Our North London Rape Crisis team work with women and girls over the age of 13 who have experienced any form of sexual violence at any point in their lives.
Specialist advocates, counsellors, group therapists and helpline workers provide non-directive emotional and practical support and information to help women understand the impact of abuse, recover from the trauma they have experienced, and if a woman chooses, dedicated support through the Criminal Justice System from report to court and afterwards. They also provide support and advice for the friends and family of survivors, as well as professionals working alongside them.
This opportunity is ideal for someone looking to gain experience in administration within a busy counselling team and sexual violence service. The role will involve a range of administrative tasks such as:
- Data entry in our case management system
- Booking assessments/sessions appointments
- Sending appointment reminders to clients
- Gathering feedback, as well as other tasks as and when required.
Who are we looking for?
No formal qualifications are required for this role. We are looking for volunteers who have:
- Good administrative skills, including proficient use of Zoom/Microsoft Teams, Microsoft packages and Outlook
- Good written and verbal communication skills
- Good organisational skills
- Good understanding of confidentiality and professional boundaries.
- An understanding of the issues faced by survivors and a desire to build on this.
- An understanding of professional boundaries and confidentiality
- Good listening skills and an empathic, non-judgemental approach.
What can you gain from this opportunity?
As part of this role, you will have the opportunity to:
- Gain experience and understanding of sexual violence and other forms of Violence Against Women and Girls.
- Gaining experience and understanding the administrative side of running a counselling service
- Contribution and support to a very busy counselling team and supporting the team in working with survivors of sexual abuse and other VAWG.
- Contribute and support a busy and diverse team.
- Hands on experience in a dynamic charity working in the Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Sector.
- Work as part of a feminist organisation.
We offer great volunteer induction training, where you will be fully supported to understand, and carry put every aspect of the role. Training includes CPD accredited courses, and the opportunity to apply to complete the level 3 Understanding Domestic Abuse Award (DAPA), which is recognized by the Home Office.