Survey Force Volunteer Roles in Charing Cross, Greater London

About CARAS: 

Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (CARAS) is a charity that supports refugees and people seeking asylum who live in south London. We offer a range of individual and group support to improve the holistic well-being of people who have a background of forced migration, providing them with tools to build lives filled with value, meaning and purpose in the UK. Our activities for young people currently include ESOL classes (English for Speakers of Other Languages), study groups, youth clubs, sports trips and football.

Volunteering With CARAS – Our Community of Welcome

CARAS has a proud history of volunteers helping us deliver our charitable aims. Volunteers are an essential part of the CARAS community, bringing skills, insights, experience, different languages, and enthusiasm to the roles.

Community members tell us that welcome by volunteers is so important in an often hostile world. It helps them feel safe and wanted. Community is at the heart of all we do, and we could not deliver the projects we do without the enormous contribution volunteers bring. Thank you for taking the time to consider volunteering with us.

About Sports Programme:

We work in partnership with Fulham Kicks to run a football session every Monday evening. We provide 1:1 sports advice to help build confidence and remove barriers by supporting young people to plan their journeys and accompanying them to join their first sessions. We find new activities and memberships for young people at youth clubs, gyms and other sports providers. We arrange frequent trips to offer sports to our young people including boxing, yoga, trampolining and hopefully go-karting.

To advance and continue this work we have an exciting new element to the project. The research project will detail: (1) the accessibility barriers faced by young people, (2) methods of best practice for including young refugees and asylum seekers, (3) funding and support options available from local authorities, and (4) what participatory 1:1 support looks like for young people.

About the role: 

As a Sports research volunteer, you will work with four young people hired as peer researchers to co-design and deliver a research project to sports providers, local authorities, support networks and other young people. The aim here is to help to remove barriers that young refugees and asylum seekers face in accessing the sports they enjoy. You can do this remotely, researching sports providers and finding sessions for our young people to attend. You will also take part in in-person workshops looking at young refugees and asylum seekers’ experiences in accessing sports in London. You will work with the young people to design questionnaires and deliver the results to local authorities and sports providers. You may need to help young people to travel safely around London and to feel welcome in the city. We would love you to join in with activities where possible and if you would like to.

We ask for a commitment of at least 2-3 hours per month in your own time, and to attend workshops over the Summer for the research project.

Tasks and responsibilities: 

· To attend research workshops and assist staff in facilitating them.

· To support young people in their co-design of the project

· To act as a positive role model and set standards of behaviour when volunteering with young people.

· To participate in research in an independent, open-minded and fair way.

· To encourage and inspire young people to reach their full potential.

· To assist young people to both recognise and celebrate their achievements.

· To challenge young people’s negative attitudes and behaviour in an appropriate manner.

· To adhere to CARAS Child Protection procedures, Confidentiality Policy, Health & Safety policy, Equal Opportunities policy and all other policies as relevant.

Requirements: 

To be 18 years or older;

· To have access to your own IT device and to be comfortable using Google Search and Microsoft Office.

· To be able to work both from home and at CARAS

· To be non-judgemental and able to engage with people from diverse cultural backgrounds;

· To be reliable and punctual;

· Excellent communication skills, especially with people with varying levels of English;

· Current resident of the UK;

· Able to provide five years’ worth of addresses, and willing to undergo a DBS check;

· Able to attend compulsory volunteer induction training (online) general and safeguarding prior to the start of the role:

Volunteer induction training currently takes place online once a month on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evenings from 6 pm – 8 pm. we offer the same training on Tuesday and Wednesday daytimes online between 12 noon – 2 pm once every 3 months.

Your availability to attend 1 general and 1 safeguarding online training session at these times within 3 months of your application would be a prerequisite for being accepted as a volunteer at CARAS.

Desirable: 

· Knowledge of community languages, such as (including Arabic, Tigrinya, Amharic, Pashto, Dari, Farsi, Kurdish, Somali and Spanish).

· Some experience in designing/ using questionnaires and surveys to inform services or activities

· To be confident in advocating for young people and explaining their life experiences to local authorities and sports providers.

Through volunteering with us you will:

· Meet new members of your local community;

· Learn about different cultures;

· Learn about issues relating to refugees and people seeking asylum;

· Work as part of a friendly, welcoming team;

· Develop your skills and competencies;

· Be able to access relevant training;