Home visitor volunteer roles in leeds, west yorkshire

Are you a good listener? Do you enjoy meeting new people? Are you sociable with good interpersonal skills? Could you support people living with a challenging terminal illness? 

Our Association Visitor role might be the right role for you. 

We ask for a few hours each week to visit people in their own homes or to keep in touch by phone, email, video, text or WhatsApp

By becoming an Association Visitor and donating your time, energy and skills, you can make a real difference to the lives of people affected by Motor Neurone Disease. 

The MND Association was founded in 1979. Our mission is to improve care and support for people with MND, their families and carers. We also fund and promote research that leads to new understanding and treatments and brings us closer to a cure for MND. The Association also campaigns and raises awareness so the needs of people with MND, and everyone who cares for them, are recognised, and addressed by wider society.

“I am extremely honoured to be a volunteer for the MND Association. The most rewarding thing is knowing that I have helped people to access the services, equipment and support they need.” Jo-Ann, Volunteer

Are you a dog lover? Do you have the time to help raise a life-changing puppy? Would you like to make a difference to someone's life? If you've answered yes to these questions, then this role could be perfect for you! 

As a Puppy Raiser, you'll provide a 6-8 week-old puppy with the vital foundation for its future role as a guide dog. You'll be looking after a puppy for 12-16 months and will guide him or her through training, socialisation, the introduction of new environments and experiences while providing a loving home.

There might be the odd chewed slipper along the way, but nothing beats the rewarding feeling of loving and raising a puppy who will go on to make an enormous difference to someone living with sight loss.

What you'll be doing:

• Engaging with our world-class training programme to prepare your puppy for the next stages of becoming a guide dog.
• Providing care and support for your puppy at home e.g., loving, grooming and feeding him or her. 
• Socialising your puppy and introducing him or her to a variety of environments to increase confidence – this can be as simple as taking your puppy with you to the shops, office or park as you go about your everyday life.
• Teaching your puppy to be comfortable alone - gradually building up from a few minutes to a maximum of four hours.
• Taking your puppy to monthly puppy classes, and interacting with other puppy raisers in your community whilst refreshing your training and sharing tips.
• Meeting with your volunteer manager as frequently as needed to discuss any changes or issues with your puppy.
• Completing short questionnaires about your puppy’s development.

You'll ideally have:

• A loving home with enough time to invest in raising a puppy and attending to their needs (e.g. toilet training). If you work from home or have hobbies, you'll need to be available to give the puppy regular attention alongside these.
• Someone at home who is physically able to handle large breed dogs (around 25-40kg).
• Access to a car, so that you can get your puppy used to travelling.
• The agreement of your landlord to have a dog in the property if you rent your home. 
• A safe secure area outside for your puppy to go to the toilet.

What you'll get:

• The satisfaction of knowing you're supporting people with sight loss to live actively, independently, and well.
• The rewarding feeling of watching a mischievous puppy learn new training techniques to help them develop into a guide dog.
• The opportunity to participate in our bespoke world-class training programme – this can help you train your own dogs or advance a future career in dog handling.
• The opportunity to have a loveable, canine companion, proven to reduce feelings of stress and improve fitness – you’ll be out walking rain or shine!
• The chance to be part of the inspirational Guide Dogs community, meeting like-minded people and interacting with a community of puppy raisers in your area.
• A dedicated volunteer manager and fellow peers who will help support you throughout your role.

s a volunteer you'll have access to our world-class training programme, to implement with your puppy in training, a great bonus for any dog owner! This is delivered in an interactive and engaging manner, using a mixture of different learning techniques virtually e.g., videos, documents and e-learning modules. Examples of the modules you'll have access to include:

• Food manners
• Greeting new visitors
• Being home alone
• Settling in new environments

You'll receive plenty of support from your volunteer manager who will help you work through these training modules with your puppy. We also offer puppy classes for puppy raisers in the local area to get together, share stories and provide refreshers on training techniques. 

Volunteering for Guide Dogs should never leave you out of pocket. We’ll make sure we pay any pre-agreed expenses related to volunteering with us, including veterinary costs, food costs for the puppy and other materials needed for the puppy’s training. We will also pay an optional allowance of up to £100 a year to offset additional costs, and we have working agreements with certain bus and train operating companies, letting you take your puppy on short training journeys free of charge.

Minimum age of applicant: 18.

Role – Community Engagement Volunteer

Are you passionate about supporting the Armed Forces Community? Could you help to raise awareness for SSAFA in your local area? You don’t need a military background, just the ability to get on with all kinds of people and some occasional free time.

What is a Community Engagement Volunteer?

As a community engagement volunteer, you and your fellow branch members will create a range of activities to help spread the word about SSAFA within your community. We want to ensure that our Armed Forces community knows that SSAFA is here to help and that we need the public’s support to continue offering our services.

Why do we need you?

We’ve been supporting the Armed Forces community since 1885. Our clients come from all backgrounds and age groups and may have served in WW2 or in a more recent conflict like the Falklands or Afghanistan.

There are SSAFA branches throughout the UK and overseas who support local volunteers to deliver services to veterans, serving personnel and their families.

A varied programme of awareness raising also keeps the SSAFA profile high in the local community, so everyone knows who we are and how we can help.

When would you be needed and where would you be based?

This role is diverse and allows for you to focus on the areas that you have skills or interests in. The role has flexibility and can work around your other commitments.

Below are some examples of possible activities you can take on or be a part of as a SSAFA Community Engagement Volunteer.

Event Champions

Be the friendly face of SSAFA! Help at events, chat with visitors, sell merchandise, and spread the word about our work.

Activity Organisers

Love planning? Help coordinate amazing events like charity dinners, carol concerts, and local fairs.

Promoting SSAFA Services

Help provide a warm, welcoming presence at Veterans Breakfast clubs, cafes or hubs - offering information about SSAFA services and signposting as appropriate.

SSAFA Storytellers

Deliver engaging talks to organisations and groups, sharing SSAFA’s incredible history and mission.

Community Connectors

Collaborating with the Community Engagement Manager to establish a local network, promote SSAFA's services, and respond to community opportunities such as gardening projects

Fundraising Heroes

Whether it’s rallying local businesses, organising events, or getting creative with unique fundraising ideas, you’ll play a crucial role in keeping SSAFA’s support going strong.

Administrators

Are you detail-oriented and love keeping things organised? Assist with branch and event administration, manage schedules and branch calendars, and ensure everything runs smoothly currently being undertaken.

What can you gain from this volunteering role?

• Use your skills, knowledge, and life experience to benefit others and make a difference.

• Give tangible and practical support to your local branch by raising awareness of SSAFA.

• Support from your local SSAFA branch and SSAFA Community Engagement Manager.

• Experience, training and skills that you can highlight on your CV and in job interviews.

• Better physical and mental health – studies show that volunteers live longer and experience

lower levels of stress and depression!

What training and support would you receive?

• Role specific training to prepare you for your voluntary role 

• Mandatory on-line training modules to complete at home, so you are up to date on how to keep

clients, their families safe and personal information safe.

• Access to a range of e-learning courses and marketing materials.

• Access to support from across SSAFA.

• Reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses.

• Volunteers will be covered by SSAFAs Public Liability Insurance whilst carrying out the role.

What are we looking for?

• Friendly and approachable people.

• Confident people who feel happy to engage with the public, potential clients, volunteers and

SSAFA colleagues face-to-face.

• Reliable attitude, staying connected with your Branch and/or Community Engagement Manager about your availability.

• Ability to maintain confidentiality and keep information safely.

• Access to public transport or a car to get to events if necessary.

We welcome volunteers of all backgrounds, abilities, races, sexual orientations, socio-economic backgrounds, and of all faiths and none. SSAFA are committed to making reasonable adjustments to support volunteers with disabilities, so they have access to the same opportunities and experiences as volunteers who do not.

Minimum Age: 18

Safer Recruitment: SSAFA undertakes a systematic approach and utmost care at every step of the process of volunteer recruitment, selection, and retention to ensure that those recruited are suitable and appropriate. Measures taken at points along this journey work together to make volunteering at SSAFA a positive and safe experience.

References Required: Yes. We will ask for two character references, this can be a former employer or someone that know you well (other than a relative)

Is a criminal record check required? No